Confession is Good for the Soul
by scifi-karis
Summary: Colonel Sheppard is captured by the Cardassians who interrogate him to find out more about the mysterious Stargate.  Meanwhile, the Federation sends its Black Ops crew of the USS Black Diamond to rescue the mysterious stranger.  Shep Whump
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: I am borrowing Phoenix-cry's OC, Salen Pike from her Star Trek series, Black Diamond Dogs. You can read more about Salen on her fanfiction page or Deviant Art page. She is kindly letting me play with him and the other Dogs for this crossover fic! I haven't read many crossover fics between Stargate: Atlantis and Star Trek, and I took advantage of the alternate timeline created during the 2009 Star Trek film to make an SGA/ST crossover that involves the Cardassians and a hint at what Terok Nor might have been up to in an AU. I hope you enjoy. Please do leave suggestions, critiques, etc.!_

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><p>Starfleet was usually straightforward when it asked for the Dogs to "take care of things." Usually, they were sent on backwater missions that no one else dared to go on, missions that Starfleet would not be involved in normally, or projects that were a bit ... well ... unethical.<p>

Salen was usually a stoic, logical man. It took a lot to make his mood swing these days. The latest turn of events that had disrupted his daily schedule left him in an annoyed and flustered mood, and the Vulcan was not afraid to show it as he stalked through the halls of the ship.

In the dead of night he had been summoned from his quarters by Razor, claiming an emergency meeting had been called by order of Starfleet Command. Razor himself didn't seem to know what was going on and that concerned the Vulcan even more than usual.

As Salen walked into the meeting room, greeting the members seated around the table, he noted their weary yet anxious faces. Something serious was going to happen. He slid into a seat next to Flash, the ship's main pilot.

Razor looked as though he had just rolled out of bed, his uniform rumpled and his hair sticking out at odd angles. He stood next to the viewscreen and as Salen settled into his chair, he activated the screen, revealing a room full of the members of the Starfleet Council.

"Greetings, General Donavan," one of the men of the council said. "I am sure you are wondering why we have called you so late at night and with such urgency."

"This is ... highly unusual," Razor replied.

"Yes, and we will launch straight into it. This shouldn't take long." The man leaned forward, activating a real time video of a planet no one in the room was familiar with. "We have had some agents on the planet Bajor for some time keeping an eye out for any Cardassian activity. As you are aware, our contact with the Cardassians is very limited and not much is known about them. We also still do not know much about the planet Bajor itself and its inhabitants. The council on Bajor is not aware of Starfleet's presence as most of the planet is still operating under ... primitive technology. It appears that a small group of Cardassian scientists have found their way to the southern regions of the planet and have been excavating something in the caves there."

"Excavating what?" Razor asked in surprise.

"We're not sure." The man showed another video shot of what appeared to be from the caves. "Whatever it is wasn't from Bajor originally. In fact, we have reason to believe that it was originally from Earth, based on the symbols on the device."

The council took the Dogs through several video shots, showing Cardassian scientists at work on something in the rocks of the caves. Later shots showed a large ring like device with constellations carved into the outer edges which one of the council members pointed out were actually Egyptian hieroglyphics.

"The device isn't what worries us at this point in time," the council member continued. "What worries us is what happened a few hours ago."

The screen showed the Cardassian scientists setting up the device so that it stood upright against one of the walls of the cave. Another shot showed the device turning, the constellations lighting up and a wash of light billowing out of the surface of the circle before settling into a watery pool within the device. Unconsciously, Salen found himself leaning forward to look more closely at the picture, along with everyone else at the table. He had never seen anything like this before.

The shot then showed something appearing in the surface of the pool of light - a man. He was dressed in black and had a shock of unruly dark hair. The man stumbled through the surface of light, looking back at it as though expecting something to be following him and raising what appeared to be a weapon at the surface. As suddenly as the light had appeared, it vanished, with considerably less dramatic display as before.

The next shot showed the Cardassians surrounding the man as he fought them, tooth and nail, before finally managing to break free of them and dashing out of the cave. Another shot showed a vast empty field outside of the caves, the man running across the area as more Cardassians joined the chase, shooting at the man as he ran. At one point, the man stopped and shot down three of the Cardassians with deadly accuracy, however, the Cardassians seemed reluctant to kill him. It took a while for them to bring the man down, and Salen nodded with approval at the man's bravery as he fought until he was knocked unconscious by what appeared to be the Cardassian leader.

The screen blipped back to the council and the man who had been addressing them appeared very grave.

"That's all we have at the moment," he said. "We're not sure what this device is that they have discovered, but our theory is that it's a wormhole that has been captured and stabilized on the planet. Somehow, this man got through and we need to find him and get him out of the Cardassian's hands."

"Do you have any idea who he is?" Salen asked.

"Yes." The council member brought up an old Earth picture of an young Air Force pilot with dark unruly hair and a cocky grin. "This is the troubling part," the man continued. "The man that came through that device has been identified as Air Force Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, assigned to Antarctica and the codenamed "Atlantis" mission, missing in action Earth year 2006 AD."

Razor's eyes narrowed. "What? That was hundreds of years ago!"

"You can see why we need to get him out of there," the man continued. "Not only can he provide us with proper intel on that device − he doesn't belong here, and we need to find out just what he _is_ doing here. The _USS Black Diamond_ is the closest Federation representation we have to Bajor at the moment and we need to take care of this discreetly, without the people of Bajor or the Cardassians becoming aware of our presence. I would like you to send in a team discreetly and extract Colonel Sheppard as soon as possible. We can't let the Cardassians know the Federation is involved."

"The Cardassian presence is very strong in that area," Razor said. "I can't recall if any Federation ships have ever entered that territory."

"No, they haven't," the council member admitted. "We believe the Cardassians are also building a space station nearby the planet called _Terok Nor_. You can use this opportunity to confirm these rumors as well. We need to be aware of what the Cardassians may be planning as they could soon become a thorn in Starfleet's side. From what little we know of them, they are a warlike race, cold and calculating."

"We'll go over the reports and do our best," Razor said.

"Please get back to us as soon as you have this man. And good luck."


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Thanks for the feedback and followers! I'd love any constructive criticism you may have as well!_

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><p>Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard was just having one of those days. Sent to a fascinating planet with a volcanic surface, purple sky and frequent lightning storms with no rain, and out of nowhere come giant black monsters.<p>

He didn't quite know how to describe the beasts except that they were about the size of an elephant, much more agile and had long black hair. They looked like great, shaggy wolves but had thick, dinosaur-like tails.

The sight of a dozen of the creatures bounding across the barren landscape towards his team was enough to cause the hairs on the back of his neck to bristle, and Sheppard knew these animals weren't just coming over to play.

"Back to the gate!" he roared. "Dial it up!"

The team didn't need any encouraging. As they raced across the hard ground Sheppard thought wryly that he had never seen McKay run so fast. The man was terrified. Teyla and Ronon managed to stay calm and Ronon even managed to fire a few shots off, hitting one of the beasts and causing a momentary distraction. Thankfully, they hadn't wandered far from the gate, and Teyla punched in the address back to Atlantis, dialing in their IDC and dashing through. Sheppard stood next to the gate's surface, P-90 blasting at the approaching creatures as Ronon and McKay dove through. He had just enough time to note the sky above him seemed a little brighter than it had been when they arrived as he backed through the Stargate ...

... And appeared in a place that did not look like Atlantis at all.

Stumbling on the rocky floor of what appeared to be a very large cave, Sheppard felt a sudden chill around him and saw his breath puffing in the air. It was _cold_. The Stargate deactivated and Sheppard looked around, feeling his heart rate accelerate when he did not see his team members. Instead, he saw that he was surrounded by several grey skinned ... aliens? He decided to call them aliens because he had never seen anything quite like them. They had grey scaled skin and dark hair and had very human eyes. Some wore body armor and some carried what appeared to be weapons. Some of them wore looks of astonishment on their faces, but all of them were closing in around Sheppard quite quickly.

Knowing he didn't have a lot of time to think the situation through, Sheppard realized using his gun was going to have to be the last resort. He had no idea if these guys were friendlies or if shooting one of them would trigger something unpleasant.

"Hey," he said, not releasing his P-90 but holding his hands up in a non-threatening way. "How are ya? I think I'm a bit lost ..."

One of the aliens raised what looked like a gun and growled, "On your knees."

That was when Sheppard's sixth sense kicked in. These guys were not going to be friendlies. Slowly lowering himself to his knees, he waited as more of them closed in, then burst into action. Throwing his shoulder into the knees of the nearest alien, he tackled it to the ground and then kicked up at the alien opposite, catching it in the abdomen and sending it to the ground. Using all his martial arts recall, Sheppard fought the aliens until he saw his opening and took it, throwing one of the aliens out of his way with a judo twist Lieutenant Ford would have been proud of and burst free, running for what appeared to be the entrance to the caves.

The aliens appeared much slower with their bulky armor and Sheppard had a good head start as he cleared the entrance to the cave and saw a flat expanse in front of him.

"This is so not good," he muttered, taking off at a dead sprint towards a rocky outcropping a few hundred meters away. It killed him to run across the field with no protection whatsoever but there was nowhere else to go. And he could hear the heavy footfalls of the aliens behind him.

Halfway across the field, the shooting started. Red lasers ripped across the ground around Sheppard and he stopped, whirling around, dropping to one knee and bringing the P-90 to his shoulder, squeezing the trigger. He brought down one, two, three of the aliens closest to him before charging to his feet and racing across the empty field again.

He had an impending sense of dread that he wasn't going to make it when one of the red lasers nipped his right hip, and he stumbled, his entire right side going numb. His P-90 dropped from tingling fingers and he was barely able to support his weight on hands and knees, still trying to crawl forward to the end of the field.

The aliens caught up with him then, surrounding him, shutting out the light of the cold grey sky above and there were hands grabbing him from all angles. Despite being half paralyzed, Sheppard fought, kicking out with his left leg and catching one of the aliens in the knee. He whacked another alien over the head with the P-90, managing to get a few good hits in with the weapon before it was wrenched from his grasp and more hands held him down.

The aliens were panting from the effort of holding him and Sheppard fought, eyes wild, not sure what they wanted with him and determined not to go down without a fight. They were trying to hoist him to his feet and he used the distraction to kick another alien, hearing a satisfactory crunch of bones snapping under his heel. If shooting three of them hadn't made them angry before, that seemed to be the last straw. Sheppard saw a fist coming for his head but was being held too tightly to counteract the blow. Pain slammed into the side of his head and darkness followed soon after.

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><p>Jakat stood, panting, shaking his hand from the powerful blow he had delivered. The man was finally limp and lifeless in the soldier's grips and Jakat shook with anger at the incompetence of his men.<p>

"He should not have been able to escape from the caves!" he ranted. "Now three men are dead and several more injured because he caught you unawares!" Throwing a hand in the air in anger, Jakat continued, "Take him to the station. We'll need to interrogate him."


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews so far! Enjoy the next chapter!_

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><p>Teyla dashed through the gate, feeling the comforting warmth of Atlantis as she emerged on the other side. McKay was wheezing beside her as Ronon backed through, gun raised at the surface. They expected to see Sheppard racing through last, as usual, but when the gate suddenly shut down, Teyla felt her heart drop.<p>

"Redial the gate!" McKay yelled.

Carter emerged on the top balcony, looking puzzled. "McKay? Where's Colonel Sheppard?"

"We do not know," Teyla replied.

"He was right behind us," Ronon said.

At that moment, the gate began dialing.

"Who's dialing?" McKay demanded.

The technician at the gate controls held up his hands. "It's not us, sir."

The team scrambled back as the wormhole flung itself outward before settling back into its watery mass.

"It's the Alpha site, Colonel," the technician informed Carter. She gave a nod and the shield dropped.

A lone figure stepped through, dressed in black and carrying a strange weapon.

"Who the hell is that?" McKay squeaked.

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><p>Sheppard felt as though it took a long time to emerge from unconsciousness. The blow the alien had given him was probably enough to give him a concussion, based on the headache he had at the moment, and the roiling in the pit of his stomach made him want to lose his breakfast in hopes that he would feel better.<p>

It was still a struggle for him to wake. He tried forcing his eyes open, a blurry, grey wall swimming into view in front of him. Somehow, he couldn't keep his eyes open. He was aware of sounds, walking, muttering voices, a boot nudging his hand ... but still his body refused to give him full consciousness.

What seemed like hours later, he heard the footsteps coming near to him again, and a cool flush spread across his body from a pinprick at his neck, causing him to jolt to full consciousness with a gasp. There were strong hands on his arms and he was roughly dragged to his feet, stumbling between the two aliens who half carried, half dragged him to a chair at the other end of the room.

They pushed him into the chair and locked metal restraints over his wrists and ankles, tightening a thick belt into place across his chest. Taking quick note of his still blurry surroundings, Sheppard saw he was in a small, featureless room, the only object being the chair he was now strapped into, and guards stood along all four walls, fourteen aliens in total and all armed. Two stood on either side of the chair, guns pointed at his chest. Sheppard bit his lip, realizing there was going to be no easy way out of this one. He noted they had stripped him of his jacket and weapons. All he had left were his boots, pants and t-shirt. He could tell they had found the knife strapped to the inside of his ankle and the laces on his right boot were still undone. These guys were thorough. Nothing was going to get past them.

The door opposite the chair swooshed open and three more of the grey skinned aliens entered the room. These ones seemed more important, and the one in the lead had a sash across his chest that was different from the other's uniforms.

Peering down at Sheppard, the alien spoke in a gravelly voice, with perfect English. "I am Gul Jakat. Who are you?"

Sheppard knew military procedure. Whatever these guys wanted, all he was giving them was his name, rank and serial number.

"Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard," he replied.

"Are you Starfleet?"

"What's Starfleet?"

Jakat did not seem to believe him and backhanded Sheppard viciously, snapping the Colonel's head around with enough force for the man to see stars. He could feel hot blood sliding down his face from a cut on his temple.

"Everyone knows who Starfleet are," Jakat said. "Do not toy with me. If you are not Starfleet, who are you associated with? You are obviously military, do not deny it."

"U.S. Air Force," John replied.

"Which planet?"

"None of your business."

Sheppard knew the retort would cost him but at that point he didn't really care.

Jakat held out a hand and the alien on his left handed him a small device which the alien leader fondled with grim satisfaction before kneeling in front of Sheppard and holding it in his face.

"If you do not answer me honestly," Jakat said quietly, "you are going to get a dose of fenikara, a drug my people have developed which is ... shall we say ... highly uncomfortable."

"I think it's a matter of me answering rather than answering honestly," Sheppard grinned.

Jakat snarled and without ceremony jabbed the device into Sheppard's neck. Sheppard grunted in surprise and then ripples of excruciating pain spread throughout his body, sending unbidden tremors through his limbs. He fought to keep from crying out, squeezing his eyes shut tight against the pain.

"Are you going to answer me truthfully now?" Jakat asked.

Sheppard forced his eyes open, feeling the nausea start to work it's way back up again and the headache coming back in full force.

"Go ... to ... hell ..." he gasped.

Jakat turned to the man on his right and said quietly, "Bring in the Jem'Hadar."

Sheppard could feel himself weakening, the tremors starting to turn into small convulsions, yet he was still fully aware of what was going on around him. It was highly disconcerting to find that he was no longer in control of his body yet he could understand how the drug was supposed to work as he found himself focused entirely on the last thing Jakat had asked of him. _Earth. Earth. Earth. _His brain was screaming at him to whisper the answer yet he knew he could not give it.

"Over ... my ... dead ... body ..." he said hoarsely.

Jakat peer down at him. "What did you say?"

Sheppard shook his head, grinning weakly. "Better ... kill me now," he laughed. "Won't ... tell ya ... anything."

Jakat raised his hand to strike the Colonel again, but at that moment, the door opened, and an entirely different grey skinned alien appeared, flanked by two of the previous aliens.

"This, Colonel Sheppard, is First, a Jem'Hadar," Jakat said, motioning towards the new alien. John noted that this one was more muscular and reptilian-like than the others. A strange tube with a liquid white substance was being fed into the alien's collarbone area.

"I would suggest that confession is good for the soul," Jakat continued, before stepping aside with a grin and allowing the Jem'Hadar to approach.

First approached John slowly, reaching into his belt to produce a short stick that flared at the tip with electrical energy when he thumbed a switch on the side. Sheppard swallowed, feeling the tremors increase and wondering whether the drugs were working harder or if he was a bit more afraid of this new threat.

The Jem'Hadar paused, glancing at Jakat. "What do you wish to know?"

"Where is he from?" Jakat snapped.

In one smooth motion, the Jem'Hadar lashed out with the stick, brutally jabbing it into Sheppard's chest and a sickening electrical shock flashed through the Colonel's body, throwing him into a painful convulsion until the alien broke contact. Panting from the shock of the pain, Sheppard gritted his teeth, refusing to cry out and refusing to give up the answer Jakat wanted. The Jem'Hadar did not give him much time to breathe, and again he jabbed the stick forward, this time in the ribs and holding on for much longer, until the convulsions made Sheppard's eyes roll back in his head and blood began to trickle from his ears. Still, the Colonel managed to bite back a scream of pain.

The third time, he wasn't so lucky. The Jem'Hadar thrust the stick into his chest, leaning into it, staring at Sheppard's face as he held on ... and this time Sheppard screamed. His heart felt as though it would pound out of his chest with the pain. The shock lit up every nerve in his body, and he could feel his hands scrabbling at the arms of the chair, looking for something solid to hold onto, something to grip to help him ride out the pain. The convulsions were too strong, however, and he lost all bodily function as the tremors tore through his body. Wave after wave after wave assaulted him, and still the Jem'Hadar held on. Blackness was beginning to edge in on what vision Sheppard had left and he longed for unconsciousness.

The Jem'Hadar let go abruptly, but before Sheppard could take a breath, the alien was taking off the restraints, loosening the belt across his chest and hauling the man limply from the chair and letting him fall to his knees on the ground.

"Leave us," First said in a low voice.

The other aliens in the room hesitated, then Jakat flicked his wrist and they silently filed out.

Sheppard barely managed to stay upright, but the alien did not give him time to think. As soon as the doors closed, he turned on the Colonel. With cold, calculating blows, the Jem'Hadar began beating Sheppard with the stick, each blow by itself tolerable, but the electric shocks made every nerve scream and Sheppard could not help but cry out. The Jem'Hadar beat him everywhere, blows raining down across his body. Sheppard curled up on the floor, feeling the tremors wracking his body, his hands wrapped over his head and neck. One solid hit to the back of his head caused the darkness to finally close in.

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><p>Jakat stood over the human's limp body, digging a boot into the man's side before flipping him over. Blood was pouring from the man's ears, nose and mouth and tiny tremors still shook his body from the fenikara. His wrists were bleeding from fighting the restraints.<p>

"Next time, don't beat him into unconsciousness," Jakat said to First. "We need him to be able to talk. Did you find out anything?"

First shook his head. "This one will take a while to break. I can feel it. He tolerated far more than I thought he would have been capable of. Leave him to me. I'll find your answers for you."


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: I'm extremely sorry for the delay in updating the next chapter! I was away for a few days and unable to access the internet, so here is an extra long chapter to make amends. Hope you enjoy. :-)  
><em>

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><p>Every bone in his body throbbed in pain with each beat of his heart. There was a high pitched whine in his ears that would not go away, even when Sheppard opened his eyes. He realized he was lying on his back on the floor, and when he turned his head with a groan, he saw First crouched on the floor in the corner of the room, watching him. The alien's mouth moved, but Sheppard didn't hear anything, realizing the whine filling his ears may have meant his eardrums had ruptured. Something was off in his vision as well, and Sheppard winked one eye shut, then the other, realizing his right eye was blinded.<p>

Ignoring the alien for the moment, Sheppard rolled to his side, feeling a sharp flash of pain along his ribcage. His breath hitched as his ribs expanded and he grimaced, noting the familiar pull of broken bones. Shakily pushing himself to hands and knees and then finally to his feet, he saw the Jem'Hadar had moved closer. Shuffling away, Sheppard turned slowly, feeling the pounding in his head starting to escalate with the movement. There really was nothing in the room that he could use. The chair had been moved to a corner and nothing marred the smooth walls. The door was in front of him now and he could see nothing to activate it. He moved closer to the door and put his hands on its surface. Nothing.

Suddenly, the Jem'Hadar was at his elbow. With one eye not functioning, Sheppard realized he had a serious blind spot now. First's mouth was moving but Sheppard could hear nothing. The alien was starting to look very hostile, and Sheppard decided he had nothing to lose. In a quick swing, he landed an uppercut on the alien's jaw, snapping his head back. Hissing in pain, Sheppard shook his hand out. The Jem'Hadar had plated, scaled skin, and his jaw was rock hard. The blow didn't seem to phase the alien and First moved in with lightning fast hands, wrapping one thick hand around Sheppard's neck and fisting the other in the front of his t-shirt, hoisting him into the air and slamming him with force against the wall behind him.

Sheppard choked, his air supply effectively cut off as the alien squeezed and pushed him further into the wall. His ribs ached as he struggled for breath and he could swear something was breaking in his sternum at the strength of the Jem'Hadar's hold. He kicked out, planting his boots firmly in the alien's abdomen and pushing. He managed to dislodge First's hold on his shirt and they both fell to the ground, rolling as Sheppard fought, tooth and nail, to dislodge First's death grip on his throat.

Blackness and dancing spots were edging in on his vision and Sheppard could feel the strength starting to leave his body as the alien straddled him, pinning one of his flailing arms to the floor. Sheppard gripped the alien's forearm with the other hand, trying to relieve the pressure on his throat to no avail. First squeezed and the blackness descended quite suddenly.

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><p>First held his grip on the human's throat, pressing a thumb against his carotid until his eyes rolled back in his head and his body went limp. Releasing his hold and letting Sheppard slide limply to the floor, he checked to see if the human's chest was moving. When he saw the slight rise and fall, he got up and went to the door. Activating it, he informed his men to bring a doctor.<p>

While he waited, First mulled over the human's actions. Most Jem'Hadar had never seen a human before but they knew enough about them to predict their actions. This one was more warrior-like than he expected. He was unpredictable and although much weaker than the Jem'Hadar, First wondered what it would be like to fight the human fairly. His men might enjoy it.

Something was off about this one, however. His actions had caused First to suspect some damage to his hearing and eyesight. He did not seem to pay any attention to First's questions and did not notice when First had approached him.

After a few moments passed, the human began to stir on the floor, and First stood over him, beckoning to the Jem'Hadar at the door. The doctor, a Cardassian, entered at that moment.

"What is wrong?" the doctor snapped.

"I believe his hearing is impaired," First answered. "You do not need to attend to his other injuries. Just confirm my suspicions."

The doctor knelt next to Sheppard, who suddenly lashed out, connecting one leg with the Cardassian's side and throwing him against the wall. The Jem'Hadar moved swiftly, pinning the man's arms and legs to the ground and leaving him grunting and thrashing against their grip, muttered curses flowing from his lips as the Cardassian moved in again, passing the scanner over his body. After a moment, the doctor pursed his lips, sitting back to look at the scanner.

"His eardrums are ruptured," he said. "There may be some nerve damage to his eye from the beating you gave him as well."

First thought for a moment. "Repair his hearing and sight. Leave everything else for now."

"I'll need to take him to the infirmary," the doctor said. "I can't do it here."

"Fine." First motioned to his men and they hoisted Sheppard to his feet. The man immediately balked as they tried to pull him towards the door, and First slammed a fist without thought into the side of Sheppard's head. Sheppard immediately went limp, his head lolling as they dragged him through the corridors.

Upon reaching the infirmary, the doctor gave the man a sedative and set to work repairing the damage. First insisted on restraints for Sheppard as the doctor worked, keeping a wary eye on him at all times until the doctor finished.

As Sheppard was starting to come around, the Jem'Hadar quickly removed him from the infirmary and brought him back to the cell, dumping him unceremoniously on the ground as First knelt in front of him. Sheppard had managed to land on his hands and knees and shook his head, wincing as sounds in the room seemed overpowering after the long absence.

"Where are you from?" First asked.

"Boy ... you guys don't give up, do ya?" Sheppard grunted, pushing himself shakily to his feet. He felt much better than he had just a short time ago, and suspected that they had done something to fix his hearing and the massive headache that had been bothering him.

First followed him, standing squarely in front of the human. Sheppard licked his lips, suddenly aware that he was extremely thirsty, and looked around the room. With the exception of two Jem'Hadar guarding the door, he and First were alone.

"Jakat would like to know where you are from," First shrugged. "It is my duty to find out ... by whatever means necessary."

"Where the hell am I?" Sheppard demanded.

"I don't think you are in a position to be demanding answers, human," First sneered. "For your information, you are on a Cardassian space station, orbiting Bajor."

"What's Bajor?" Sheppard asked.

The Jem'Hadar cocked his head, curious. "You have not heard of Bajor? It is a planet on the edge of Federation space."

"Never heard of it. Or the Federation," Sheppard replied.

First's eyes narrowed. "You are lying."

"Actually, I'm not."

For some reason, First felt as though the human was telling the truth. He did seem generally clueless about many things that he should not have been. If he was lying he was pulling off his innocence act very well.

"Tell me where you are from," First asked again. "You came through the wormhole and there was no way to trace where you have come from. The Cardassians have been unable to duplicate the light that appeared when you entered."

"You mean the Stargate?" Sheppard was utterly confused. He mentally kicked himself a half second later.

First jumped on the clue. "Yes ... the Stargate. We know it is a wormhole. Where does it lead to?"

Sheppard crossed his arms, a smug grin on his face. "You guys haven't figured it out?"

"I am not a scientist." First hesitated, then motioned to one of the guards. "Summon Jakat."

As the guard left, First turned on Sheppard, grabbing his left wrist and spinning him around, bending the wrist up awkwardly behind his back and marching him over to the chair. Sheppard found himself unable to wrench out of the Jem'Hadar's grasp as he felt his whole left side go numb. The alien pushed him into the chair and rapidly fastened the restraints.

"You will tell Jakat everything you know about this Stargate," First said. "If you do not, I will hand you over to my men. They have been looking for a form of entertainment for several months now. Being stuck on a space station with only your duties to attend to means they tend to get ... restless."

Sheppard swallowed, unsure of First's threat. He kept up his cocky grin and winked at the Jem'Hadar, hiding his uncertainty. "Sure thing, boss."

Sheppard thought quickly about what was safe to tell these aliens and what wasn't. He knew that everyone breaks under pressure. He had seen it often enough in Afghanistan and elsewhere. They were lectured on it in training. It was likely that at some point he wouldn't be able to hold back and would tell them everything. He also knew that it was highly unlikely that a rescue was coming. Somehow, there was a malfunction with the Stargate on their way back home, and he was thrown onto another planet away from his team. He could only hope that they all ended up safely back at Atlantis. And he could only hope that he held out long enough that the information these aliens wanted didn't matter in the end.

It was only moments before Jakat entered the room. First greeted him.

"Gul Jakat, he has information on the wormhole."

Jakat's eyes sparkled. "What has he told you?"

"He called it a Stargate. I believe he may know how to activate it," First said.

Jakat stepped around First to stand over Sheppard. "Is this true? You know how to activate this ... Stargate?"

"Maybe."

Jakat glared at Sheppard, then viciously backhanded him. Sheppard felt the skin on his left cheekbone split and his head snapped back. He tasted blood in his mouth and gingerly tested his teeth to see if any had been knocked loose. The Cardassian was _strong_.

"I don't like games," Jakat said. "Tell me everything you know about this Stargate. Who built it?"

Sheppard looked at the Cardassian through blurry eyes. "The Ancients built the Stargate. They wanted something to use to travel vast distances."

"Who are the Ancients?"

Sheppard shook his head. "Don't know. Nobody does. That's why we call them 'Ancients.' They died out a long time ago."

Jakat's eyes narrowed as he processed the information. "How many Stargates are there?"

"Don't know." Here, Sheppard decided to lie. "I thought there were just two. The one I came through and the one that you have."

Again, Jakat backhanded Sheppard, snapping his head back with enough force for the pilot to see stars. The left side of Sheppard's face felt numb. He could feel hot blood trickling down his face from the cut on his cheekbone.

"I think you are lying," Jakat hissed.

"Why's that?" Sheppard gasped.

"You seemed a bit confused when you came through our Stargate," Jakat said. "As if you didn't end up where you thought you were supposed to end up."

"Well, the last time I went through the Stargate, I didn't end up in a cold cave ... it was warmer. I felt the difference right away. Guess it was the wrong time of year."

Jakat sneered. "You humans appear to be very good at lying. How is it the Bajorans have never heard of humans? If you had been passing through regularly they would know." He leaned in close to Sheppard's face, his breath reeking of something that Sheppard didn't even want to guess at. "I happen to be a very good judge of character, Sheppard, but I think even my Jem'Hadar could tell that you are lying." Jakat leaned back, crossing his arms in a very human gesture. "Tell me, which planet is it that you come from?"

The hair on the back of Sheppard's neck went up. He had the distinct feeling that he should not, under any circumstances, tell this Cardassian that he was from Earth. He shrugged nonchalantly and replied, "Just some backwater place."

"It's name?"

"Coruscant."

Jakat backhanded Sheppard again across the face in a move too quick for his eyes to follow, leaving him reeling against the restraints, his face burning.

"You are very good at lying, Sheppard. I think I'm going to have to leave you with First again. He seems to be very persuasive. You have given me some information on this Stargate, but now I would learn where you come from. First."

The Jem'Hadar stepped up, his hand reaching for the device at his belt that Sheppard had become all too familiar with in the last interrogation session.

"I shall leave you to it," Jakat said with a smile.

As the Cardassian left the room, First signaled his men and they unfastened the restraints and dragged Sheppard from the chair, out the room and down the hall.

Sheppard decided to go as willingly as possible with the men as there was no way he was breaking their vise-like grip on his arms. Once he stumbled and lost his footing and they didn't even break their stride, dragging him along until he managed to find his feet. They marched him through a very long passageway lined with many doors, encountering the odd Jem'Hadar and Cardassian on the way. They emerged on a landing overlooking a bustling circular area two stories down that was the size of a large football field. Sheppard guessed it may have been their command center, but then realized there were no consoles or screens in the area. It reminded him of a busy marketplace, except for the fact that this place was filled with soldiers and not villagers.

The Jem'Hadar hurried Sheppard past the landing and then back down a long hallway filled with the doors that all looked the same. Sheppard saw markings on the doors that he assumed were numbers in whatever language it was that these people spoke, and he knew that if there were no markings it would be virtually impossible to tell where one was within the building he was in.

At that moment, the monotony of the endless grey walls and doors was broken by a window, and with shock, Sheppard realized he wasn't in a building. Endless blackness brimming with stars filled the window.

"Are we on a ship?" he asked, seeming to remember mention of a space station.

One of his guards looked at him in annoyance. "This is _Terok Nor._ Not a ship."

"A space station?" Sheppard persisted.

There was no answer but the Colonel was sure that must be what it was. If that was the case then there was no chance of rescue unless Atlantis was able to locate him by puddle jumper. He actually hadn't thought of rescue until the moment he realized he was on a space station. There had obviously been a malfunction with the gate, and Sheppard hoped that the rest of his team had made it safely back to Atlantis. He had no doubt that McKay would find out what had happened to him, but the question would be if they could reverse the malfunction. The quick glance he had gotten of the gate was enough to tell him he was no longer in the Pegasus galaxy. It looked exactly like the gate back on Earth, which meant he was much closer to home than he should have been.

Everything was still terribly confusing. These Cardassians and Jem'Hadar seemed very advanced with their technology, yet knew nothing of the Stargate and how it worked. They seemed to know that he was human, but again, did not seem to have had much interaction with humans before. The Jem'Hadar were treating him with a small degree of respect while the Cardassians looked down at him as though he were of no consequence to them. He had the feeling that if he didn't prove to be of some value to them, the Cardassians wouldn't hesitate to get rid of him.

The Jem'Hadar pushed Sheppard into a small lift and he felt the lift drop. It was hard to tell how many floors they went down, but when they emerged, the sight was totally different from the top floor they had been on. It appeared the station was still under construction, and Cardassian workers were welding bulkheads, carrying tools and working steadily around what appeared to be a very incomplete and open floor. Some walls actually didn't exist, and Sheppard tried to hold back his shock when he saw many gaps in the wall where the blackness of space was exposed. If this station was anything like developing technology on Earth, he was sure they were protected by a shield, but it was still an unsettling sight.

Moving quickly through the construction zone, the Jem'Hadar pushed Sheppard into a large room that appeared completely closed off from the rest of the construction area. The lighting was dim, but Sheppard could make out the silhouettes of about a dozen more Jem'Hadar in the room who all stopped what they were doing to look at the prisoner.

From Sheppard's first glance, he guessed that this was a training or recreation room. The Jem'Hadar seemed to be engaged in hand to hand combat across the room, but none of it appeared malicious and all were very orderly as they approached the small party with Sheppard. First stepped into the room, addressing the Jem'Hadar.

"This human has been captured by the Cardassians. He is called Sheppard. Jakat wishes to obtain some information from him but he is being uncooperative. We shall be using him in training for the next few days."

With that, Sheppard was released and roughly pushed to the middle of the room. Adrenaline was starting to pump through his body as he realized what First meant by "training." He made a swift headcount of the room, confirming there were fifteen Jem'Hadar in the room. If they were all as powerful as First, he was going to have a rough time.

First turned to Sheppard. "You will fight," he said. He then turned to address the soldiers in the room. "Begin."

One Jem'Hadar approached him silently from the shadows. Sheppard pretended not to notice him until the last minute. When the alien reached one scaled hand towards his throat, Sheppard quickly dodged and threw his shoulder into the man's abdomen, hearing a satisfactory whoosh of air as the alien tumbled onto his backside in surprise.

No sooner had the alien been dispatched then another approached, more warily this time. He and Sheppard circled, and the pilot crouched low, keeping to the balls of his feet, ready to dodge if he needed to. He was surprised at how quickly he had been able to take down the first Jem'Hadar, and knew that the element of surprise was over. This one would be more difficult.

Sheppard went over a quick mental checkup, finding himself bruised and stiff, but still able to move quickly when he needed to. He waited until the next Jem'Hadar was within striking distance and spun, his heel connecting solidly with the alien's head. The Jem'Hadar dropped like a brick, and Sheppard took the time to grab the knife that he had spotted at the man's belt, pointing the blade downwards to help in a slashing and stabbing motion as he smoothly turned towards the next two warriors who had detached themselves from the shadows, moving swiftly towards the pilot. Sheppard knew he would never be able to muscle his way past these aliens. They were simply too strong and he was in no longer in top form.

Hiding the blade behind his forearm, Sheppard slashed towards the nearest Jem'Hadar and then stabbed into his neck, but not before the second alien had slammed into him from the side. They slid across the floor, the Jem'Hadar's heavier bulk pinning the pilot to the floor, and Sheppard flipped the blade around, stabbing into the alien's side. The soldier grunted in pain and threw a well aimed punch, leaving Sheppard's jaw numb and stars whirling around his head. Sheppard lay stunned, unable to collect his wits, and the Jem'Hadar took that moment to grab the blade from his hand and throw it away, pinning his hands to the floor.

Shaking his head to clear his vision, Sheppard pulled his knees up in one fluid motion, pushing with all his strength against the soldier's chest. The Jem'Hadar refused to let go, and the momentum Sheppard had gained caused them to tumble, reversing their positions. Sheppard plowed one knee into the stab wound on the alien's side and there was a fierce snarl of pain, causing the vice-like grip on Sheppard's hands to loosen. Sheppard swung a fist at what he guessed was the alien's temple and hissed in pain from the resulting sting from the Jem'Hadar's hard, plated face.

Caught unaware, Sheppard was scooped off the soldier by another Jem'Hadar, an effective side-tackle that Sheppard cursed himself for not seeing. Landing hard on his side, Sheppard lay gasping for breath as the attacking Jem'Hadar loomed over him. Acting on instinct, Sheppard scissored his legs around the alien's knee, twisting quickly and hearing a snap as the soldier went down with a grunt of pain.

Not stopping to think, Sheppard rolled and came neatly to his feet, meeting another Jem'Hadar head on and slamming a well aimed kick into the alien's chest as he spun to meet another, grabbing the shorter soldier's head and slamming it down into his left knee. Hearing a satisfying crunch, he let go of the alien's head and swung around to slam an elbow into the side of another Jem'Hadar's head, ducking the alien's grasp and hooking a heel behind an approaching solder's knee, causing him to go crashing to the floor.

All this had taken mere seconds and Sheppard knew he couldn't afford to think with this many aliens in the room only concerned with taking him down. He knew he had to roll on instinct if there was any chance of him surviving, and his Black Ops training was perfect for the situation.

With a feral snarl, he lashed out at the next Jem'Hadar, a brutal snap kick to the face causing the alien to stumble backwards.


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: Thanks so much to everyone who has posted a review so far! Very much appreciated!  
><em>

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><p>Jakat watched in fascination from the doorway as the human effectively started taking out any Jem'Hadar who approached him. He heard bones crunch as Sheppard swung one of the soldier's arms over his shoulder and pulled down sharply. He abruptly let go and turned to meet the next Jem'Hadar.<p>

First shifted uneasily next to him.

"If we allow this to continue, my men will hurt him. Badly. They are holding back at the moment."

"Let them." Jakat's voice held some fascination as he watched the human fight. "I'd like to see what limits he can be pushed to. Call it an ... experiment. Are you recording this?"

"Yes."

"I'd like to show this to the Founders."

First stiffened. "Is that wise?"

Jakat looked at him sharply. "You shall do as I say. The Founders ways are different from ours. I believe they would find these ... _humans _fascinating. And it is always good to know how your potential enemy may react under duress."

* * *

><p>Sheppard didn't know how long he fought the Jem'Hadar, but he also knew that he could not keep up the intensity for much longer. For a while, he had been a whirling dervish, allowing the adrenaline to keep him going. As he started to tire, the Jem'Hadar had made their move. A short, sharp blow to the kidney had left Sheppard curled on the floor in agony, unable to move or even cry out in pain. A well aimed kick to the abdomen had caused a sharp, painful <em>thud<em> to reverberate through his body, and as he tried to crawl to his feet, gasping for breath, another soldier had grabbed a handful of hair and pulled him painfully upright to give him a right hook to the jaw hard enough for his vision to black out and his knees collapse beneath him.

Sobbing for breath, he could feel tremors running through his exhausted body as he tried to push himself up from his hands and knees. With despair, he realized he no longer had the strength.

"Get up," one of the Jem'Hadar growled, looming over him with fists curled.

Again, Sheppard tried to push himself up to no avail. He collapsed entirely, muscles quivering in fatigue. A boot nudged him in the side and when he didn't respond, the soldier standing over him jabbed his foot into his shoulder, flipping him over onto his back.

All Sheppard wanted at that moment was oxygen. His chest heaved from exertion and his mouth was bone dry. He knew he was probably dehydrated and could feel his t-shirt soaked with sweat and the blood of the Jem'Hadar he had managed to wound or kill.

"Get up." The Jem'Hadar kicked him in the side and Sheppard gasped in agony, feeling the pain flare up more distinctly in his flank. Again, he moved trembling arms and tried to push himself up, his chest heaving for air and body trembling. Again, he was unable to move.

The view Sheppard had of the ceiling was starting to get hazy and he could feel the blood pounding in his head as his vision tunneled. Jakat moved into his view, looking down at him disdainfully. His voice seemed to come from far away.

"Take him to one of the cells. See that he gets some food and water and summon the doctor. I don't want him dying on us just yet."

Two pairs of strong hands grabbed Sheppard's arms and hoisted him, dragging him away from the room. He gasped sharply in pain at the movement and watched the ceiling spin lazily away into darkness.

* * *

><p>Salen and Razor worked quickly. Less than 48 hours had passed since they had first received news about the stranger and the Cardassians and they had flown at top warp speed to Bajor. Razor commented that they may have broken some speed records when they arrived ahead of schedule.<p>

Currently, they were orbiting Bajor under cloak, although a few scouts had been sent down to the surface of the planet in the first hour they had arrived. The Cardassians had locked down the cavern where the mysterious human had emerged and the scouts were not able to get very close. From what they could report, John Sheppard was not on the surface of the planet.

Their best bet lay with the space station under construction near the mouth of what Starfleet Command had reported to be a natural wormhole.

"The research we could undertake in this location would be amazing," Salen remarked to Razor as they made the decision to move closer to the space station. "A wormhole like this has not been studied. Do we even know where it leads?"

Razor shook his head. "No idea. I'm not sure the Cardassians even know how it works yet." He got a faraway look in his eyes that Salen knew all too well.

"You have an idea?"

Razor grinned lopsidedly, running a hand through his tousled dark hair. "I'm wondering if the wormhole has something to do with how Sheppard got here."

Salen raised an eyebrow. "That is a possibility."

"Right. Gear up. We need to get the lay of the land on this station and figure out where Sheppard might be."


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note: Many thanks again for all your reviews! I'm starting to feel sorry for poor Shep ..._

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><p>Sheppard came to with a pounding headache and a tongue that felt like sandpaper. Various aches and pains made themselves known as he stared dumbly at the ceiling above him for a moment, trying to recall where he was. He turned his head and saw he was in a small three walled room. One of the walls was open to a larger room beyond, but a bright light hummed around the floor and ceiling of the open space. He saw a tray with what looked like bread and a large glass of water on it sitting next to the open wall inside his space.<p>

Groaning, Sheppard managed to roll to his side then push himself to his feet. He could feel his muscles still trembling with fatigue and hoped that the bread and water would be enough to restore his energy levels. Sitting down next to the open wall, he tore into the bread and drank the water down in mere seconds, his stomach rumbling as he rubbed a forearm across his mouth. He resisted picking up the crumbs from the bread, then reached out to the open space beside him experimentally. A loud_ ZAP_ resounded through the room and a sharp sting made him hiss and shake his fingers. It looked like the open space was shielded, so no escape for him just yet.

He stood on shaky legs and explored the perimeter of the room, finding the walls smooth and no conduits that he could get to. It was when he was running his hands along the edge of the shield that four Jem'Hadar entered the room behind Jakat and First.

"Attempting to escape already?" Jakat walked up to the shield and reached over to a panel on the wall, keying in a code. The shield flickered and died.

Uncertain, Sheppard took a hesitant step backwards as the four Jem'Hadar soldiers entered the cell, spreading out around him. One held a pair of what looked like restraints and he approached the pilot warily. Sheppard knew that one was just a distraction as he noted rapid movement out of the corner of his eye. He ducked and rolled, as one of the Jem'Hadar to his right tried to grab him.

In one smooth motion, Sheppard allowed his body to move instinctively, rolling to his feet and racing towards the open door he could see at the far end of the room. As he raced past a surprised Jakat and First, they both reached out and tried to catch him.

Sheppard wasn't his high school and university track champion for nothing. He nimbly dodged the pair as the Jem'Hadar in the cell came pouring out, absolutely livid that he had escaped them.

Heading for the doorway beyond at top speed, it opened automatically to reveal a corridor beyond. Without thinking, Sheppard dodged left, racing down the empty hallway before taking a quick right down another corridor. He could hear the pounding of feet behind him and prayed he could outrun them long enough to find some sort of hiding place. The Jem'Hadar were strong, but they weren't quick on their feet.

He slid to a stop when the corridor opened to the wide open space he remembered passing earlier. A circular promenade surrounded a wide open space one story below and above, and a large circular glass window revealed the blackness of space and a sprinkling of stars. Thinking quickly, Sheppard vaulted the railing that surrounded the balcony and let go, lightly landing and rolling, absorbing the impact through his shoulder. He took off across the area, using the wide space to gain some speed. He noted the few Cardassians who were strolling across the area and avoided them, using their confusion at his sudden appearance to his advantage.

A bolt of light flashed over his shoulder, narrowly missing him, and he swerved, barely avoiding another energy bolt. Their weapons were definitely sophisticated and the geek in him begrudged the fact that he didn't have time to check out their technology.

As he sprinted across the mostly empty space, avoiding a few Cardassians who tried to grab him as he raced past, he realized he had absolutely no escape plan except for getting away from the Jem'Hadar and Jakat.

Directly across from him, Sheppard could see two doorways and chose the one on the left. He was only ten meters away from his goal when something slammed into him from the side, knocking him off his feet and flipping him to the floor. Gasping for breath like a fish out of water, Sheppard had a momentary panic attack as something landed across his chest, restricting his breathing. As he flailed, trying to suck in life-giving oxygen, his vision tunneled, and a whine filled his ears. He knew he was about to pass out and could hear his heartbeat pounding in his chest as he fought for breath. The weight on his chest shifted as he blindly pushed against whatever it was that was blocking his air, and rough hands grabbed his wrists, pinning them to the ground. As the weight shifted, Sheppard found he was suddenly able to breathe, and spared a few seconds to gasp for breath.

There was a commotion above him, and as the high pitched whine began to fade and his hearing returned, he could see Jakat above him, a firm grip on his wrists as he barked out orders to the approaching Jem'Hadar. Apparently the man was faster than he looked and had intercepted Sheppard before he managed to dive through the open doorway only meters away.

Knowing he had no other chance, Sheppard moved swiftly, kicking up and hooking his left ankle around Jakat's neck, pulling the surprised Cardassian off of him. He quickly turned and tried to crawl to his feet, but didn't make it far. A huge body slammed into him, knocking him over with enough force to temporarily stun him. The Jem'Hadar had him pinned in seconds, one soldier on each leg and arm and another with a firm boot planted on his chest.

Jakat loomed behind the sweating Jem'Hadar, while Sheppard struggled under their grip, unwilling to admit defeat.

"You put up a good chase, human," Jakat said, grudging respect in his voice as he rubbed at his injured throat. He turned to the Jem'Hadar. "Take him to training. I want to see how long he lasts."

* * *

><p>Sheppard wasn't sure how long he fought the Jem'Hadar, but after the chase he had put them through, he had very little energy for a long, elaborate battle with the warriors. He managed to put down four soldiers with short, efficient moves before he started flagging. The Jem'Hadar were merciless, and Sheppard was quickly brought down when the fifth warrior managed to snap his knee. The pilot went down with a cry of agony, the pain so great that he felt sick. Wave after wave of stabbing pain emanated from the broken knee, and it was all he could do to balance on his one good leg and meet the next attack. He was quickly swept off his feet with a crushing blow to the ribs and he gasped for air, hearing several audible cracks in his side. A mind numbing pain was starting to envelop his body and he was finding it hard to think. Collapsing to his hands and knees, he was unable to avoid the next blow, a swift kick to the side that flipped him over onto his back. He could feel the bones in his side grinding, but the pain was so great he was beyond any coherent thought as the Jem'Hadar knelt at his side, grabbing his left arm, lifting and twisting. Sheppard cried out as his shoulder popped out of the socket. He could feel tears of pain burning in his eyes and gasped for breath, a metallic taste in his mouth. His vision was tunneling again, the familiar whine filling his ears and the pounding of his heart was the only sound that he could focus on. All he wanted to do was pass out, escape the pain.<p>

The Jem'Hadar tightened his grip and leaned on his arm and the pain increased, flaming down from his elbow through his shoulder as the pilot slid into blessed darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Note: Thank you to everyone to the kind reviews. Shep and the boys are starting to get somewhere ... :-)_

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><p>When Sheppard next awoke, he was back in his cell. He blinked at the ceiling a few times, collecting his bearings before trying to sit up and realizing that he was pain free. He felt his dislocated shoulder and found it whole and good as new. After flexing his knee, he found that completely healed as well. He lifted his shirt and found a mass of bruises marring his skin. When he prodded his ribs he felt nothing, however. It was as if he had fully healed.<p>

"What the hell?" he muttered. Perhaps they had something like the sarcophagus or some other advanced healing device.

He pushed himself to his feet, feeling healthy and fit and wondering how they had managed to repair the vast extent of his injuries. He found the familiar food and water near to the entrance of his cell and devoured both.

He didn't have long before Jakat once again entered the cell block followed by a contingent of Jem'Hadar soldiers.

"What did you do to me?" Sheppard demanded.

"Whatever do you mean?" Jakat responded, coming to a stop in front of Sheppard's cell.

"I was ... I was injured." Sheppard motioned to his body. "Now I'm not. What happened?"

"We took you to our doctor," Jakat said impatiently. "We can't have you incapacitated now, can we?"

He turned to First. "Keep a constant watch on him. I want him back in the training sessions. Make sure you are recording everything."

* * *

><p>Sheppard fought the Jem'Hadar twice more before he tried refusing to fight. The Jem'Hadar took his rebellion as a chance to use their cattle prods, attacking him with the painful sticks until he was forced to fight them off in order to defend himself. Through it all, he tried to get the Jem'Hadar to talk to him, explain what their reasoning behind the fighting was. The Jem'Hadar didn't seem to do a lot of talking when their attention was focused on fighting. He had the feeling that he may have been the first human they had encountered and didn't appreciate the fact that he appeared to be a lab rat. Each time he fought, the Jem'Hadar would fight until he could not fight any longer or had been beaten into unconsciousness. Every time he woke up back in his cell he was fully healed. The massive bruises on his torso refused to fade, however, and he could feel a dull ache deep inside that made him suspect that perhaps the Cardassian doctors hadn't actually healed him and had given him something just to keep him going.<p>

Sheppard had no idea how long he had been held captive. There did not seem to be any day or night cycles on the station and his periods of unconsciousness varied enough that he wasn't sure if he had been on the station a week or a month at times.

The fourth time they brought him to the familiar room to fight, Sheppard realized wryly that something had changed. He began to form a plan.

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><p>Jakat attended every training session the Jem'Hadar had with the human. This man called Sheppard intrigued him for some reason, and he wondered if all humans were like him. If so, the Federation was going to be more of a problem than they had anticipated.<p>

He knew it would take a few more sessions with the human before he might show any signs of breaking. So far, he had remained steadfast in his claim that the mysterious wormhole device he had come through only went to one other place. The wormhole outside of Bajor only led to one place, but he had a feeling that a device designed to dial a certain sequence to get to a place had to have other sequences. If his hunch was correct, this device would be very powerful indeed. The Cardassian scientists on the surface of Bajor were still studying the device and had a vague idea of how it might work.

Without Sheppard's cooperation, their work on the device was going to be a very slow process. As much as the man's attitude irritated him, Jakat had grudging admiration for this man who radiated defiance and tried to escape at every chance he was allowed. He could only hope that his Cardassian soldiers saw this trait and took it to heart.

The fourth time they brought Sheppard to fight with the Jem'Hadar, he went willingly and did not put up a struggle. Jakat noted this with some interest, hoping that maybe the man would be willing to talk after this session.

The fight this time was different. There were only eight Jem'Hadar in the room and they attacked Sheppard in pairs. Sheppard dealt with each attack with cold efficiency, crushing the throat of one soldier with a well aimed snap kick and cleanly breaking the next soldier's neck. He moved quickly and efficiently, putting each Jem'Hadar down with no chance of recovery before he moved on to the next.

Jakat was impressed with the man's fighting skills but realized too late that all the Jem'Hadar in the room were either dead or unconscious as Sheppard dropped the last one's limp body, breathing heavily, a trickle of blood running from his nose and mouth which he wiped at absently, then turned to give Jakat a calculating glare. Jakat motioned to his two Cardassian guards, seeing the look in the man's eyes. They raised their weapons but Sheppard ducked, narrowly avoiding the first's shot and sweeping up underneath the soldier with a strong grip on his weapon, knocking it back against the man's jaw. The Cardassian dropped like a stone and Jakat backed up immediately, hitting the door switch and running into the corridor as he spoke into his comm.

"I need backup in sector 9. Immediately!"

He heard a few more shots fired and stopped, drawing his own weapon and aiming it at the open doorway. He saw a tuft of unruly dark hair and fired blindly as the human dove into the hallway. Too late, he saw the bolt of return fire and felt the shock of the stun blast before he hit the floor.

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><p>Sheppard went all out, determined to take out as many Jem'Hadar as he could before they noticed there were far too few men in the room. He was lucky there were only ten soldiers this time, and Jakat had not realized until too late that his plan was to take <em>everyone<em> out this time. Usually, there were at least twenty soldiers in the room, and Sheppard had a strange feeling that this had been too easy, but why not take an opportunity when it presented itself?

As he watched Jakat slump to the ground, Sheppard took off running, racing down the corridor in the direction that he remembered the promenade was in. The last time he had escaped, he knew that one of the corridors he had almost reached had a good chance of leading to a docking bay, based on the symbols of flying vessels he had seen next to the door, and the fact that one of the wide open windows over the promenade had revealed a docking arm close by.

Even if he didn't make it, Sheppard was determined to try, and this time, he was armed.

* * *

><p>Salen and a group of five men had managed to infiltrate the Cardassian station but had a hard time navigating the station undercover. They had resorted to using the crawlspaces around the station and in 36 hours had still not managed to find any trace of Sheppard. Hacking into the computer on the station had revealed nothing. It was as though he did not exist, and Salen had a moment where he wondered how secret this station was and what might it be doing at Bajor.<p>

Their first clue as to whether or not Sheppard existed was when they heard a frantic communication over the comlink they had hacked into calling for backup.

"I have a suspicion that could be our man," Salen whispered. "Let's move. Sector 9."


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Note: Again, I would highly recommend that you read Phoenix-cry's Star Trek series featuring Salen, Razor and the Black Diamond gang as there are a few elements I am bringing up in this chapter that I have done my best to explain but which make much more sense if you have read her stories! Thank you again to everyone who is following and reviewing this story!_

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><p>Not having had a lot of time to think about his plan, Sheppard hoped that he might get further than last time, knowing that it was sheer luck that he managed to get to the promenade the last time he escaped.<p>

Emerging onto the promenade, he picked off the few Cardassians walking the perimeter, then dove to his belly and poked the nose of the gun over the rail, shooting down the Cardassians and Jem'Hadar below sniper-style before slinging the gun over his shoulder, grabbing the railing, and dropping down to the deck below. He was brought up short by the door that he raised a hand to open when a shout came from across the deck.

"Colonel Sheppard!"

He turned, gun tucked firmly to his shoulder and aimed unwaveringly at the man with a shock of white hair and green scars covering his face that stood across the deck from him. The stranger raised his hands in surrender. He was sinewy and tall with a decidedly alien look to him. He was dressed in a black, tight fitting outfit and had a weapon slung across his back as well as a gun in a holster at his belt. He stood in the shadow of a bulkhead, glancing nervously behind him.

"Who are you?" Sheppard asked tightly.

"My name is Salen," the man replied. "We're here to help. We came to get you out of here."

At that moment, a commotion from the promenade above caused Sheppard to re-aim as Cardassians and Jem'Hadar lined the railing, aiming guns at him below. He flicked a glance back to the white haired man and noticed he was gone. Without stopping to think how the man could have disappeared so suddenly, Sheppard hit the door control behind him and dove through the entrance as the deck was peppered with stun bolts. The door closed and he raced down the corridor, picking off anyone who stood in his way with a well aimed shot from his stolen gun.

He raced down the long corridor, noting at the last minute a T-section coming up and barely having time to register the rock solid arm that emerged from the intersection, knocking him straight onto his back. First emerged from the side of the corridor where he had been waiting, a gun in his right hand.

Sheppard didn't think and raised the gun he was still clutching. Before he could fire a shot, First had moved with lightning speed and kicked the gun out of his hands, thrusting his own gun back into his belt in a liquid move before he dropped onto Sheppard, a heavy fist to the pilot's jaw causing him to see stars. Rough hands patted him down, searching for other weapons while Sheppard lay stunned, arms outstretched, hearing the distant sound of pounding footsteps approaching.

"You're clever, human," First said. "I didn't think you'd get this far. Jakat and I had made a bet, you know. It looks like he's getting his Vulcan blood tonight."*

Sheppard shook his head, drawing in deep breaths. "You let me escape?"

First looked bemused. "Of course. You would never have gotten away after the first time. We've had constant guards in all corridors since that day. They have been told who to look for if you ever did escape, however today we told them to stand down so we could see how long you would last. I'm surprised you figured out where the docking bay was, however."

Sheppard didn't have time to answer as Jakat approached with a small group of Cardassians.

"I didn't want him getting this far," Jakat snarled.

"My apologies," First inclined his head, grabbing Sheppard's shoulders and quickly flipping him onto his stomach, wrenching his right arm up in a vice-like grip that had the pilot grunting in pain and arching his back to keep from getting his arm pulled out of the socket. First pushed himself to his knees, dragging Sheppard with him as he stood.

There was movement behind the group facing them, and Sheppard could feel First stiffening as someone approached.

The Cardassians parted behind Jakat and a strange looking humanoid appeared, with slicked back blonde hair and bland features. It appeared to be female, and when it spoke, Sheppard confirmed it's gender.

"Is this the human you have been talking about, Jakat?" she asked.

"Yes, Founder," Jakat inclined his head. "He has been causing us much trouble over the past few days."

The Founder approached Sheppard, looking him up and down with a critical eye. "He doesn't seem like much."

"Hey!" Sheppard protested. First wrenched harder on his shoulder and Sheppard was forced to bend sideways to compensate.

"I believe he knows how the wormhole device works," Jakat said.

"And why have you not found out what he knows, yet?" the Founder snapped.

"He is ... proving difficult," Jakat said stiffly.

Sheppard felt First shift his grip and made his move, twisting in a graceful motion and slipping out of the Jem'Hadar's grasp. He grabbed the gun from First's belt and in one move had a firm grip around the Founder's throat and the gun resting against her temple, gambling that this woman was important to the Cardassians and the Jem'Hadar.

"Don't move," he growled, backing up against the side of the corridor.

First and the Cardassians froze, surprised at how quickly Sheppard had moved. The Founder had also frozen and Sheppard pressed the gun more firmly against the side of her head.

"I don't want any trouble," Sheppard said. "If you want her alive, I want a ship and a free pass to the planet I came from. I get there safely, you can have her back, unharmed."

Jakat stepped forward, moving slowly as he motioned for the Cardassians to put their guns down. "Colonel Sheppard, I think we can work this out," he said, a sly smile on his face as he looked at the Founder.

Sheppard narrowed his eyes in suspicion, not liking the tone of the Cardassian's voice.

Suddenly, he felt the Founder moving, but there was nothing he could do about it as he tried to tighten his grip on her. The Founder liquified in front of his eyes, melting down to the floor. Stepping back in horror from the strange phenomenon, he barely had time to register that the Founder had reassembled a few feet away, looking as she had before, when First slammed into him, sending him into the wall with the force of a train. Sheppard felt his right shoulder give way and pop out of place as he hit the wall, and he let out a strangled yelp. The Cardassians were on him in seconds, blows raining down as Sheppard curled up into a ball, trying to fend off the heavy boots.

Jakat pushed through the Cardassians to stand over the pilot, trembling in rage.

"Worthless human," Jakat snarled. With one well aimed blow he sent Sheppard spinning into darkness.

* * *

><p>Salen watched as Jakat kicked Sheppard in the head, snapping the man's head back with enough force to make the Vulcan wince in sympathy. Sheppard sprawled on the floor limply, unconscious, as the Cardassians gathered around him and dragged him away.<p>

The Founder turned to Jakat.

"That was interesting, to say the least," she said. "These humans are fascinating creatures. Even when the odds are stacked against him, he tries to escape. What do you make of it, Jakat?"

"I cannot be certain, Founder," Jakat replied, "but I do think that from what we have seen, we need to be very careful of this Federation. Sheppard has not claimed to be from Earth, but the technology he possessed and his knowledge of the wormhole is dangerous. This wormhole does not lead to the same place as the natural wormhole outside of Bajor. Of that I'm certain. Also, the mere fact that he is physically capable of bringing down my best soldiers is cause for concern. He is not as strong as the Jem'Hadar, but he uses his mind, and that in itself is more dangerous than my most fearsome warrior."

"You have the recordings?" the Founder asked.

"Yes."

"May I see them?"

"Of course."

As the Founder and Jakat walked away, Salen had the distinct feeling that he should follow them and find out what these recordings were, but knew that his mission was to rescue Sheppard first and foremost, and from what he could see, the man was in no condition to stay on the station for much longer, especially if the Cardassians were trying to get information from him.

He motioned to the man at his back and they silently crawled in the direction Sheppard had been taken. They emerged over the holding cells to find a heavy guard posted outside the door of the brig and inside, keeping careful watch over the unconscious man laying in one of the cells.

Salen signaled the rest of his men to regroup.

* * *

><p><em>*Vulcan blood has become a highly sought after drink in Phoenix-cry's Star Trek universe. With the destruction of Vulcan and the Vulcans themselves becoming a rare species, others have started using Vulcan blood as an illegal drug<em>.


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed the story so far. I never thought I would be getting over 50 reviews at this point! It's very encouraging and I hope you continue to enjoy the story! Again, I encourage you to read Phoenix-cry's Black Diamond Dogs series in order to understand a little more about Salen's background._

* * *

><p>Throbbing pain seemed to respond to a piercing alarm ringing from the distance. Sheppard was faintly aware of a howling siren and a commotion outside of the flickering shield next to his head. He tried opening his eyes and instantly felt nauseous as the bright light stabbed at his retinas. Squeezing his eyes shut, he groaned as he tried to move his arms and legs. His muscles had stiffened and every part of him ached. A sharp pain in his ribs and a dull ache in his shoulder told him that his injuries needed tending to, and a metallic taste in the back of his throat had him coughing painfully.<p>

There were several shots fired near his head and he knew that he needed to move and get out of harm's way but could not find the energy. Everything felt hazy and he thought randomly that it was almost as if he had been drugged again. Suddenly, he felt a presence above him and a gentle hand on his arm.

"Sheppard ... Sheppard can you hear me?"

"Wasshappenin' ..." he slurred. He tried cracking his eyes open again, his stomach roiling at the bright lights above. The man with the shock of white hair that he had seen earlier was hovering above him, a gun in one hand.

"It's me, Salen," the man said. "We need to get you out of here. Can you walk?"

Sheppard tried raising one hand to block out the light above and found it shaking. "Notsure ..."

Salen grabbed him by the shoulder and tried hoisting him up, but Sheppard recoiled in pain, a cry of agony pulled from him as he felt his dislocated shoulder shift.

"Your shoulder, it's dislocated?" Salen asked.

Sheppard nodded stiffly, sure that he was going to throw up any second.

Salen grabbed his right hand and placed the other hand on his shoulder. "I am sorry, but this is going to hurt," he said, and then pulled.

Sheppard screamed as the shoulder popped back into place, and Salen wasted no time, pulling him to his feet and propping him up against his sinewy frame. Sheppard's knees went weak at the motion and he retched, bile coming up as his body heaved. Salen patiently held him until the retching passed.

"Concussion?" he asked.

"Probably."

"No matter," Salen replied. "We shall have you in good hands soon enough."

Sheppard managed to keep his eyes open, squinting against the glare as Salen helped him walk out of the cell. Jem'Hadar lay dead or unconscious around the room, and several men were spread out across the room, dressed in black with weapons that Sheppard wished he had more time to check out.

"We need to get to the promenade," Salen ordered. "The shields will be down in less than seven minutes."

They moved swiftly, but as they got to the door, Sheppard's legs gave out entirely and Salen was unable to catch him as he collapsed to his hands and knees on the floor. He coughed, blood flecking the floor as Salen pulled at him again.

"We must move!"

Sheppard shook his head. "Can't ..."

Salen pulled the unresisting pilot to his knees, then to his feet, motioning for another man to help. With one man on each side, they managed to drag Sheppard down the long corridor, emerging on the promenade where a small hand to hand fight was taking place between the men dressed in black and the Cardassians and Jem'Hadar. Salen was glad he had called for reinforcements for the rescue. The station was surprisingly empty but the Jem'Hadar and Cardassians had put up a good fight when they realized they had intruders.

They took shelter in the entrance of the corridor they had emerged in, Salen making sure that Sheppard was covered. The man was fading fast and Salen could see him trying to hold onto consciousness as long as possible. The coughing was worrying the Vulcan as he could see blood flecking the man's shirt and mouth. There were obviously some very serious injuries that they were going to have to deal with.

Salen checked the time. "Any second now!" he shouted.

Then, with a wash of light, _Terok Nor_ disappeared.

* * *

><p>Sickbay was bustling with activity. Five men Salen had taken onto the Cardassian space station had injuries, although none were fatal.<p>

Sheppard was in critical condition. The doctor had done a quick assessment, finding broken bones and internal bleeding which had to be stopped immediately. The man was lying, limp and unresponsive in the middle of sickbay as the doctor and nurses worked on him.

Razor had come down as soon as he knew all the men were out, and he and Salen stood by the door, watching the activity in the room.

"The Cardassians didn't know what hit them," Razor said. "I left some scouts on Bajor monitoring the activity on the space station. It looks like you made a clean getaway."

"I was surprised their shields were so easy to knock out without them realizing we were there," Salen responded.

"It looks like they only started building the station a short while ago." Razor folded his arms. "There were a lot of holes. Parts of the station aren't even finished yet and it looks like they're operating on a skeleton crew. I'm not sure, but from what we could make out from those caves, it could be they're building the station near Bajor because of the device they found ... the device that our friend here came through."

"From what we saw on the computers while we were on the station, they have been doing a lot of research on wormholes," Salen said. "Colonel Sheppard referred to the device that he came through as a 'Stargate.' The Cardassians were most interested in learning more about this from him but for the most part, he refused to cooperate. We have the files from the station if you'd like to see them."

"I wonder if it's like a time machine," Razor pondered. "We did find Sheppard's records that date back hundreds of years ago. I'm hoping he'll be a little more cooperative with us."

"The Cardassians were ... ruthless. The files we found were most disturbing."

"Poor guy," Razor said sympathetically. "We don't know a lot about the Cardassians. I guess this tells us just what kind of people they are."

"They do not appear to know much about the Federation," Salen offered. "There was also a strange alien with them that they referred to as a 'Founder.' She appeared to be a shapeshifter. They seemed to give her quite a lot of respect, almost as if she was in charge."

"Interesting," Razor mused. "I can't wait to read the files you got from that station."

At that moment, the doctor approached them, wiping his hands.

"Gentlemen," he inclined his head. "I have good news and bad. It looks like our visitor is going to live, but it's going to be a rough road to recovery. The Cardassians put him through hell and it looks like he's been pumped full of drugs to keep him going, not to mention the work that their doctor did on him. I found multiple injuries that had been healed quickly and ineffectively. It looks like they wanted to keep him going as long as possible. Absolutely in-humane if you ask me. I've put him under heavy sedation for the moment. I've repaired what damage I could, so for now we'll have to wait and hope that he can heal on his own."

"Keep us updated, doc," Razor replied. "Let me know if anything changes." He turned to Salen. "Let's go read some of those files before Starfleet calls asking for a report."


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's Note: Thank you again for reading and reviewing! Here's a longer chapter to keep you all happy ... although I must say I really struggled with this one for some reason. Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

><p>Sheppard awoke to the familiar sound of soft beeping. Atlantis. Infirmary. But it didn't feel right. It didn't smell right.<p>

Slowly, he opened his eyes and flexed his fingers experimentally, feeling sharp pains and aches all over his body complain at the tiny movement.

Definitely not Atlantis.

He was in a spacious room that was lined with several beds, most of which were empty but a few had sleeping occupants. The lights were dim and the place looked high tech. He racked his brain, searching for a memory as to how he got here and came up with nothing. The last thing he remembered was coughing his lungs out on the promenade with the strange white haired man standing protectively over him. He had been so tired and in so much pain and just couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. It looked like a rescue had happened, although who his rescuers were remained to be seen.

Sheppard shifted, trying to push himself up on weak arms, and the soft beeping changed pitch. The pain that flared along his sides and abdomen was so intense it left him breathless for a moment, and he froze, half pushed up on his forearms, trying to ride out the pain and blinking rapidly as the lights in the room spun.

A man suddenly appeared at his side.

"You shouldn't be getting up, sir," he said. "Please lie back down."

The man gently pushed Sheppard back onto the bed, fussing over him and reminding the pilot a little too much of Carson Beckett.

"Where am I?" Sheppard croaked, suddenly realizing he was very thirsty.

"You're on the _Black Diamond_," the man replied. "We're a Starfleet vessel sent on a reconnaissance mission to rescue you. It's okay now, you're in good hands."

"Starfleet ..." Sheppard vaguely remembered that word being mentioned onboard the space station. The Cardassians had seemed to think that he was a part of this Starfleet.

"Yes. We're the good guys," the man smiled down at him. "I'm going to give you something more for the pain. They did a number on you. It's probably going to take a few days before you're back on your feet."

The man pressed something cool to the side of Sheppard's neck and there was a soft hiss. Sheppard suddenly felt very sleepy and the pain and the thirst weren't so significant anymore.

* * *

><p>Sheppard drifted in and out of consciousness. The doctor was always there when he was awake. When he finally became alert enough to comprehend what was going on around him, the doctor was nowhere to be seen. He began a mental pat down and found himself to be mostly pain free as he moved fingers, toes and limbs before finally sitting up on the bed and looking around the empty room.<p>

He flipped the blanket covering him away and realized he was no longer dressed in his BDUs and instead had on loose black pants and a black t-shirt. His shoes were also missing.

Gingerly swinging his bare feet over the bed, he stood on shaky legs, realizing that he had probably been unconscious or asleep for a few days with how weak his body was feeling at the moment. He thought wryly that Beckett would have tutted his disapproval that Sheppard had been in the infirmary enough times to be able to tell how long he had been out when he woke up.

After searching the infirmary and finding no one, Sheppard tried what appeared to be the main door and found it locked. He couldn't find an access panel anywhere and gave up on the exit, looking over the equipment in the room and trying to decide if he should pocket what looked like a scalpel as a weapon when the door opened and two men entered. One was Salen and the other was a taller man with unruly brown hair and ears that had been cut to a point. Both were dressed in a black uniform.

"Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard," the taller man said, grinning and extending his hand. "I'm Razor, Commanding Officer of the _USS Black Diamond._ It's good to finally see you up on your feet, sir."

Sheppard took his hand hesitantly. Razor gave him a firm shake then stepped back. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions for us."

"Damn right I do," Sheppard snapped, starting to feel the stress of the past several days crashing down on him. "What the hell is going on? Your doctor here wouldn't tell me anything and the door's locked."

"Colonel, this ship is a Black Ops vessel," Razor explained patiently. "We had to be sure you were who we think you are before we let you do any wandering. We're here to answer your questions though. I believe you met Salen?" He gestured to the white haired man standing next to him.

Salen inclined his head, giving Sheppard a small smile. "We have met."

"What are you?" Sheppard asked in exasperation. "You're not human, are you?"

"No, I am not," Salen responded. "I am Vulcan, although I have spent most of my life with humans and my adopted father is human."

"He might look different, but he pretty much acts like a human," Razor grinned.

"And what about you?" Sheppard gestured to Razor.

"Me? I'm human. These pointy ears were an accident. Vulcan-sympathizer. It's a long story."* Razor gestured to the door. "We're here to help you, Sheppard. We want to get you back to your people but we need to discuss all this with the big guys first. Please follow me."

Sheppard warily walked next to Salen as they followed Razor down a long corridor with doors spaced regularly on the sides. They encountered a few men on the way. All were dressed in what appeared to be a black uniform. Most of the ship's occupants were human but the odd alien also wandered the decks. Sheppard didn't see anymore Vulcans.

They took him to a large conference room which he noted was much like their own meeting room back in Atlantis, with a long oval table in the center of the room surrounded by chairs, a window along one entire wall revealing a stunning expanse of stars, and a video screen on another wall.

As they entered the room, Salen indicated a chair for Sheppard to sit in and the video turned on, revealing a room mirroring their own filled with men and women in a uniform different to the one that the _Black Diamond _crew wore. The Vulcan had informed Sheppard on the way to the room that they would be meeting with the men and women that ran Starfleet, which appeared to be a large military and space exploration organization.

Sheppard sat stiffly, still sore from his healing injuries. Apparently, this ship had superior medical technology because he was up and about and nearly healed from injuries that would have had him down for weeks in Atlantis. He was still wary about these people, however, and had wracked his brain in the short walk to the conference room trying to figure out what to tell them. Something about Razor was starting to put him at ease, however, and despite the strangeness of Salen's looks, the man appeared honest and trustworthy. Sheppard wondered absently how the man had acquired the multiple scars that seemed to be covering his body.

"Greetings," a man on the video feed said. "My name is General Barry. I believe you are Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard?"

Sheppard nodded. "Yes sir."

"We have a slightly awkward situation, Colonel," the General said. "It appears that you are not in your correct time period."

Sheppard frowned. "Time?"

"What is the year where you are from?"

Sheppard shook his head in disbelief, starting to see where this was going. "Oh come on. You can't tell me that I time travelled!"

"Unfortunately, Colonel, that is what appears to be the situation. I am glad that it isn't going to take long to convince you of that. We are just as puzzled as you are. Believe me, however, we're going to do all in our power to get you back."

"How many years?" Sheppard asked.

"You appear to be roughly 250 years in the future, although we can't be certain of the exact date as we don't know what year it was when you left your time."

"2006." Sheppard hesitated, then added, "I hate to say this, but I've experienced this before. I think I know what can be done to get me back ... But I need to know more about you people first."

"Of course," Razor said, with a nod towards the General. "We're here to help."

Sheppard couldn't help to shake the uneasy feeling he had about trusting these people. Their body language was totally relaxed and he felt as though they were being honest with him, but after what he went through with the Cardassians he couldn't help but feel that trust had to be earned.

"First," he said, "what are you guys? What is this Starfleet? What is this place? What are you doing here?"

"We are a part of an organization called Starfleet," General Barry explained. "We are a union of several races and planets that believe in exploration and making peaceful contact with other races. We also operate as a military unit when needed. You are on the _USS Black Diamond_. This ship is a top of the line military Black Ops vessel. Most in Starfleet don't even know this ship and it's crew exist. They were sent to rescue you because we believe that the device that you came through may potentially be very dangerous or very useful. We need to know more about it and hopefully get it out of Cardassian hands if need be. There is also the matter that it seems as though you have time traveled through this device."

Sheppard nodded, allowing the information to sink in. "What do you know about me? Up until 2006."

"The files are quite old," Salen replied. "We know you were a part of Earth's military, that you worked primarily with the Air Force as a pilot and served in Afghanistan, but that you also had a stint in Black Ops, which I must add is the division that all of us here are operating in within Starfleet. We know that you worked for a top secret military operation and were assigned to Antarctica and the _Atlantis _project. Beyond that, we know very little about your movements in Antarctica and we know even less about the _Atlantis _project."

The General cleared his throat onscreen. "Colonel, was your assignment in Antarctica related to this wormhole device that you emerged from?"

Sheppard nodded. "You could say that. Have you heard of the Stargate project?"

"There was mention of this in the historical files," Salen said. "In Colorado?"

"Yeah. I don't know why you guys don't know anything about it. It was a big military project that started up when they discovered a device in Ancient Egypt back in the early 1900's. They found something that they called the Stargate that had been made by an alien race. That's what I came through to get here. There are thousands of Stargates throughout the galaxy, and in fact, I was in the Pegasus Galaxy not too long ago on the Atlantis mission. We use the Stargates to get from planet to planet as they form a connection of wormholes from device to device."

Razor raised an eyebrow. "It sounds like it could have revolutionized space travel. Why hasn't it come up in the Starfleet files on travel history?"

"It did revolutionize space travel for us," Sheppard continued. "We made contact with a few neighboring races, most primarily the Goa'uld, the Asgard, the Ori and the Wraith. It turns out most races in the galaxy just want to kill us. We made an alliance with the Asgard and they helped us defeat the Goa'uld and the Ori. The Wraith are another matter. They live in the Pegasus Galaxy and don't know about Earth since the Pegasus Galaxy is so far away. We'd like to keep it that way. Basically, the Wraith feed on humans and their supply in the Pegasus Galaxy is dwindling. They're looking for fresh stock, so my ... unit been forced to cut ties with Earth for the time being in order to protect them."

Sheppard decided to simplify things and not mention Atlantis. The city had been through enough lately without anyone else knowing about it. It also seemed that these Starfleet guys actually had no clue that anything like a Stargate existed so what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

"Computer," Razor said, "look for mention of any of the races that Colonel Sheppard has mentioned in the database."

An electronic voice sounded out of nowhere, and Sheppard tried to hide his surprise. Technology _had_ advanced.

"There is no mention of the Wraith, Goa'uld, Asgard or Ori in the database," the computer replied.

"Interesting." Razor leaned forward. "I'm starting to wonder if this isn't the future you were supposed to end up in."

Sheppard leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "A parallel universe? Great. I time travel _and _happen to end up in the wrong universe."

"It would explain why we don't know anything about this Stargate," Razor said. "It sounds like it played a big role in your Earth's development, whereas we have only heard a small mention of it. It looks like the former United States military defunded the project not too long after your disappearance and there was no more mention of it."

Sheppard shook his head. "If this was my timeline, that'd never happen. There's too much out there, too much going on. They couldn't defund the program that quickly. We've barely scratched the surface with exploration and the potential out there is unfathomable." He refolded his arms and leaned forward. "What planet did I come out on anyway?"

"It's called Bajor." Salen stood and flicked at the console to the side of the viewscreen where a picture of a green planet came up. "It is not well known to Starfleet at the time and we have not made official contact with its people. It came to our interest when we received a file from one of our agents who has been keeping an eye on the Cardassians. He noted your arrival and also the fact that the Cardassians are building a space station relatively near to Bajor. We have a feeling they may be building the station because there is a large natural wormhole there that we believe leads to the Alpha Quadrant. It appears they were also excavating on Bajor as they were present when you emerged through the ... Stargate."

"Are the Cardassians part of Starfleet?" Sheppard asked.

"No." The General snorted. "We haven't bothered ourselves with them as we know very little about them at this stage, but they do not uphold to the vision of Starfleet. Starfleet headquarters are back on Earth and we are an alliance of races that believe in making contact with new races, making friends and alliances and exploring. As far as we know, the Cardassians don't believe in that."

"What about the Jem'Hadar?" Sheppard asked. "They seemed to be working for the Cardassians."

"We know even less about the Jem'Hadar," the General responded. He looked at Razor. "I have a feeling the Dogs are going to have to stick around Bajor for a bit. We need to make sure these guys aren't going to try and stir things up anywhere."

"It might be a good idea to get the Stargate out of their hands as well," Sheppard said. "If they figure out how it works it means instantaneous travel from one planet to the next, and if they discover there's a network, it could change your form of travel drastically. That's assuming, of course, that in this time and universe you have multiple Stargates."

"How many Stargates are there?" Razor asked.

Sheppard shook his head. "No idea. They were built by a race we call the Ancients, and as far as we know, there could be hundreds of thousands of Stargates across the universe. We thought they were just in our galaxy and then discovered another network of Stargates in the Pegasus Galaxy. There could be more. We just don't know."

"Is there a Stargate on Earth?" Salen asked. "You mentioned they had found one in Egypt."

"Yes. There were two, actually, although we ended up getting rid of one a few years ago. Long story. It could be different in this time, though."

"I guess the main problem now, Colonel, is how we're going to get you back home," the General said. "You said you've experienced this problem before. Do you know how to reverse it?"

"I have a feeling it had something to do with the Stargate I came through," Sheppard explained. "The planet we were visiting had some strange lightning storms and for all we know, they could have been caused by a solar flare. In the past when any malfunction with a gate happened, it was usually caused by a solar flare that interfered with the normal path of the wormhole."

"We shall get some scientists working on the problem as quickly as possible," the General nodded. "I think for the moment, though, Salen, Razor, you need to get a team together and get that Stargate off of Bajor and out of the Cardassian's hands. Work with Colonel Sheppard as I'm sure that he can give you a lot of information regarding how to move the Stargate."

With that, the meeting adjourned. Salen and Razor whisked Sheppard out of the room and into what they described as their engineering section, going over plans and devising a way to get the Stargate out of the cavern the Cardassians were excavating it from. Sheppard discovered that they had not found a DHD according to Razor's agents working on Bajor and immediately gave some work to the engineers to devise their own dialing device. McKay would have been proud. Sheppard paid more attention to details than he like to put on.

It was a simple matter to transport the device out of the cavern. Unfortunately, between the time that Sheppard had arrived and now, the Cardassians had placed a shield around the place, which meant Razor and Salen had to pull together a team to go to Bajor and manually shut down the shield so they could then transport the Stargate to the _Black Diamond._

Sheppard volunteered to accompany the team and discovered that their "beaming" technology was very similar to the Asgard's. It sure beat having to take the time to fly a shuttle to the planet below while the _Black Diamond _orbited under cloak.

They materialized not too far away from the cave where Sheppard had been captured and moved swiftly and silently. Salen had chosen nighttime as the best time to operate and Sheppard was glad for the cover of darkness. He had been given a uniform like the other members of the team and the black material made the men all but invisible in the moonless night as they moved in towards the cave.

Sheppard hung back while Salen, Razor and two other men took out the Cardassians guarding the entrance, a silent operation that had the four guards slumped unconscious to the ground in seconds. As they moved deeper into the cave, they came across little resistance as they dealt with the armed guards too swiftly for anyone to sound an alarm. Sheppard was impressed with their efficiency.

They finally emerged in the center of the cavern where the Stargate had been propped against a wall with various electronic devices attached to it. Salen's men took up positions around the room, checking all crevices and extra rooms for any other Cardassians or Jem'Hadar.

Moving quickly, Sheppard took the devices he had been instructed to use and placed them on the familiar rings of the Stargate, noting again that this was not the Pegasus Galaxy Stargate. This one was very similar to the one he had stepped through on Earth to Atlantis all those years ago, covered in Egyptian hieroglyphs. He signaled back to Salen, who then keyed in a deactivation sequence into the console the Cardassians had set up for the temporary shield. There was a flickering around the room, and then Salen lifted his com, whispering, "_Black Diamond, _this is Salen. Beam us up."

With a wash of light, they materialized back on the _Black Diamond_ in one of the transport bays with the Stargate laying on the ground.

Razor slapped his com. "Bridge, get us out of here, now!"

* * *

><p>An alarm on <em>Terok Nor <em>woke Jakat from a deep sleep. Stumbling to his com, he slapped the console, pulling up the on duty officer on the bridge.

"What is it?" he snapped.

"Sir, the wormhole device has gone missing. We detected an ion trail leading away from Bajor just moments ago and believe that a ship has beamed it out of the caves. We are not getting any response from the men on the planet's surface."

"Bloody Starfleet," Jakat cursed. "Get the cruisers ready and track that ion trail. If you don't find whoever stole that thing in the next hour heads are rolling!"

* * *

><p><em>*Read Phoenix-cry's Black Diamond Dogs series to get the whole story about Salen and Razor.<em>


	11. Chapter 11

_Author's Note: So ... this chapter kind of got away from me. This isn't what I had originally planned but it needed to be written! Sorry Shep ..._

* * *

><p>Salen and Razor led Sheppard to the bridge where a bustle of activity made Sheppard dizzy as he noted the men working at different stations around the spacious room and a viewscreen streaked with stars.<p>

"Looks like the Cardassians have been able to track us, sir," a young man reported to Razor. "We have three vessels following us. Warp 6."

"Increase speed and recheck our cloak," Razor said. "We need to find a place to hide. We can't let these guys find us."

As Razor made his rounds around the bridge, Salen turned to Sheppard. "Since we are a Black Ops vessel, we really can't afford to let anyone know we are operating under Starfleet. It's only the top officers in Starfleet who know about our existence and if we were ever discovered by anyone else it would be difficult to explain our existence because we are not actually supposed to exist. We can do a lot of things that Starfleet would not be allowed to do under the Prime Directive, such as rescuing you and capturing the Stargate, but Starfleet will deny our existence if we are found out."

"I see ..." Sheppard looked at the viewscreen, wondering how fast they were traveling. "What are you guys going to do about the Cardassians? Is Starfleet just going to ignore them or is something going to be done? They don't seem like very nice guys to me and they obviously have something going on with that wormhole outside of Bajor."

"I am not certain what Starfleet would have us do," Salen replied, "although I believe that Razor has a plan."

"What about the Jem'Hadar? And that Founder lady?"

"We are as puzzled as you are, Colonel Sheppard," Salen answered. "We know nothing about them. I believe that it is possible they have come through the wormhole from the Gamma Quadrant."

"Have you guys been to the Gamma Quadrant?"

"We have not. We only know of its existence, and now that you have come, we know that there is a wormhole leading from the Alpha to the Gamma Quadrant."

"I wonder if that wormhole messed with the Stargate's wormhole," Sheppard mused.

Salen's eyebrow twitched. "It is possible. I am beginning to believe that perhaps you really have _not_ landed in your appropriate future."

"You mean the alternate universe thing we were talking about?"

"Yes."

"Wouldn't be the first time that's happened."

Salen looked suddenly very interested. "You have experienced time travel _and _alternate universes before?"

"A lot of funky stuff happens with wormhole travel," Sheppard replied. "It doesn't always go the way you expect it to."

At that moment, the ship jerked violently. Everyone standing was thrown off their feet.

"Shields down!" someone yelled as red lights and warning began to flash all over the bridge.

"Red alert!" Razor roared. "How did they find us?"

"I suggest you find something to hold onto," Salen said to Sheppard.

As Sheppard pushed himself off his feet to grab the railing, there was a flash of light, and the pilot disappeared.

Salen gaped at the empty space for a moment before realizing what had happened.

"Razor!" he shouted. "The Cardassians have Sheppard!"

Razor stood in the middle of the bridge, yelling out orders. "Full speed, swing her around, Flash!" He folded his arms, staring at the viewscreen as it showed three ships rapidly filling the screen. "They're not going to know what hit them."

* * *

><p>It was with a bit of shock that Sheppard realized he was standing in an unfamiliar room with First coming towards him with deadly intent in his eyes. He barely had time to react before the Jem'Hadar swung a fist at his head with enough power to put Sheppard down on the floor before he knew what had hit him.<p>

The Jem'Hadar stood over him, outraged.

"You will suffer for your escape, human," he growled.

Sheppard lay on the floor, still stunned and trying to figure out what had just happened. He tasted blood in his mouth and gingerly felt his teeth with his tongue, finding them all intact. It appeared the Cardassians had used the beaming technology to snatch him from the _Black Diamond_.

"How ... how did you −"

"We implanted a tracking device in you, human. It made it easier to get you back if anything happened."

Sheppard noted the room that he was in was empty. There were no other Jem'Hadar or Cardassians. The room suddenly rocked and yellow lights flashed along the walls.

First smiled. "They aren't happy we took you, are they?"

Sheppard pushed himself up to his elbows, trying to wait until the walls and ceiling stopped reeling before going any further. First took that moment to withdraw a very familiar looking stick from his belt.

"You will tell me where you are from and what the Stargate is," First said. "I may spare the Starfleet vessel if you're cooperative."

"You know that's not going to happen," Sheppard replied.

Suddenly, the Jem'Hadar was on him, one muscular knee pressed into Sheppard's shoulder and the other on his hip, effectively pinning him to the floor. The stick flashed and before Sheppard could draw a breath, First had jammed it with bruising force into his chest. The pain that flared up was more intense than Sheppard remembered, and as every nerve lit up in agony, he screamed.

* * *

><p>Salen stood next to Razor, his body taut as he stared out the viewscreen at the rapidly approaching Cardassian ships.<p>

"Razor, we cannot fire on them. We don't know which one has Sheppard."

"I know," Razor responded grimly. "But we have to make them think we don't care." He turned to the weapons console. "Take out everything on those ships that you can without destroying them. Tactics, we need to track down Sheppard and get him back. Once their shields are down, scan the ship and look for any human lifesigns. Anything you find, beam to sickbay."

"That's a bit pessimistic of you," Salen said wryly.

"I have a feeling they're not just having a chat over there after what we saw they did to him last time," Razor said. He sat down in the captain's chair.

"Open fire."

* * *

><p>First had held on to Sheppard, pinning him to the floor when he started to convulse under the pain. The pilot's eyes had rolled back in his head and the screams had turned into pain-filled, incoherent gasps. Anytime First dialed down the setting and asked the man about the Stargate, Sheppard had laughed and said nothing.<p>

The convulsions were becoming more and more violent, and First was having a hard time keeping Sheppard down as his body spasmed. Blood was trickling out of his ears, nose and mouth and still the man refused to cooperate. First abruptly turned off the stick and stood, watching the convulsions gradually die down until Sheppard lay sprawled on the floor, exhausted, his chest heaving.

"I am going to have to kill you," First said.

The ship rocked from another explosion.

Sheppard opened his eyes wearily. "Go ahead."

"You would have made a good Jem'Hadar," First said, grudgingly. "I hope my men will remember you for a long time."

He withdrew a knife from his belt.

Sheppard couldn't lift his head, couldn't lift his arm, couldn't lift a finger to stop him. He knew this was the end of the line. He was not going to see Atlantis, McKay, Teyla, Ronon or anyone from his old life again. He closed his eyes and wondered if they would ever find out what happened to him.

First knelt next to Sheppard, raising the knife. "The Klingons have a saying," he said softly. "'Today is a good day to die.' Remember that as you go to the afterlife, Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, and go well."

There was blinding pain and hot blood rose up in his mouth, choking him. He opened his eyes and saw the city.

"Atlantis ..." he whispered.

* * *

><p>First drove the knife into the human's heart, watching as the man's eyes flew open in pain.<p>

Then Sheppard whispered a single word.

"Atlantis ..."


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's Note: I am so, so, so sorry for leaving you all hanging like that with such an evil cliffy! Real life and everything is catching up but hopefully this next chapter will keep you happy. Thank you so much to everyone who is reading and reviewing! It is very much appreciated!_

* * *

><p>Jakat stood before the Founder in the operations room as alarms flashed throughout the station.<p>

"They destroyed two of our ships and are coming back to the station," Jakat informed the Founder. "What would you like us to do?"

The Founder's eyes flashed in anger. "I want that Stargate. You will have to capture them and kill them after it is found."

"And the human?" Jakat asked.

"He is not going to break. First has his orders. Kill him with the rest."

* * *

><p>"Shields are down!" Flash shouted.<p>

"Sheppard?" Razor asked.

"Scanning. Got him. Beaming him to sickbay."

"I will go," Salen said, rushing off the bridge.

As he raced through the long corridors, Salen couldn't help but feel an impending sense of dread. He brushed it off as his Vulcan senses going wild, but was not surprised when he entered sickbay to find the room in chaos.

Sheppard lay on one of the tables in the midst of busy nurses and bloody bandages, his skin unnaturally pale and his lips tinged blue. His face was slack in unconsciousness.

Salen grabbed the nearest nurse. "What happened?"

The nurse shook his head. "We don't know. He had a knife in his chest. Looks like whoever stabbed him missed his heart by a hair's breadth. He's not out of the woods yet, though. He lost a lot of blood."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Suddenly, Sheppard's body began to shake with convulsions. His eyes were rolled back in his head and blood was trickling out of his mouth.

"What's happening people?" the doctor demanded, throwing himself to Sheppard's side as the nurses tried to hold him down. He had grabbed a scanner and cursed. "That knife had poison on it. Someone get me the hypo!"

The medical team moved quickly and efficiently, and Salen watched as the doctor was handed a hypospray which was then quickly applied to Sheppard's straining neck. Moments later, the convulsions had not stopped, and Salen moved to the doctor's side.

"Doctor, allow me. I may be able to determine what is wrong."

The doctor looked Salen in the eye, remembering past experiences with the Vulcan, then reluctantly nodded.

Not really knowing what he was doing, but drawing on all of the lessons in focus that Spock and his father had taught him, Salen moved to Sheppard's thrashing head, placing his fingers on the right points and closing his eyes.

Immediately, flashes of a beautiful city floating in water filled the Vulcan's mind. Lightning flashed in a darkened sky above the churning water and he could see deadly looking ships descending on the city. An impending sense of dread filled Salen's mind and he fought hard against the feelings building up inside of him.

Carefully, he projected the image of rain onto the city and concentrated on one small drop falling from the clouds above to one of the city's spires below.

_Focus._

Beneath him, the man continued to convulse, and Salen was increasingly aware of pain burning at him from within. It was not his pain he felt, but he knew it was Sheppard's.

The city flashed under the lightning and the ships drew closer, weapons primed and ready to fire.

_Defenseless._

Salen saw Sheppard within the city in a large room, sitting alone in a great chair, eyes closed in concentration.

_Defenseless. Alone._

Sheppard was straining to make something work, to fight off the attack of the deadly ships. Whatever it was he was trying to fix was not working.

Salen approached his side, laying a hand on his arm, feeling Sheppard's body trembling with exertion. The pilot's eyes flew open at his touch, burning Salen with his gaze.

"What are you doing here?" Sheppard asked.

"I have come to help you."

_Defenseless._

"You are not alone, Sheppard. You can fight this."

The pilot shook his head and closed his eyes wearily. "Too many ... Atlantis ... She's going to fall."

"What do you need to do?"

"The chair ... the chair isn't working."

Salen reached deep inside, closing his eyes to the scene before him, and understood. The chair was a weapon. With the chair, Sheppard could defend his city.

"Colonel Sheppard," he said. "Listen to me carefully. I will help you fight this. You must concentrate. Listen to the sound of my voice. Can you see the ships?"

Sheppard nodded, eyes still closed.

"They are coming closer. If you cannot stop them, you will die, along with your friends." Salen stopped, projecting his image of the outside of the city and the falling rain and wind and thrashing waves, imagining calm and peace and quiet. "Can you see the rain? I want you to pick out one small drop, Sheppard. One drop. Concentrate on that drop of rain and watch as it falls to the city below. By the time it reaches the tallest spire, the chair will be working again."

Salen saw through Sheppard's eyes the small drop of rain. It seemed to fall slowly, ever so slowly, as the deadly ships powered their weapons and fell from the sky onto the city.

Then, suddenly, the chair under Sheppard lit up brightly, and Salen again saw the outside of the city. Great balls of energy tore from the city depths and smashed into the ships descending down on it, leaving the skies clear.

The rain stopped. The sun shone through the clouds onto the glistening towers of the beautiful city, and Sheppard opened his eyes.

Salen stumbled back from Sheppard's side, feeling his body soaked with sweat as he collapsed to his knees from the strain of the meld. One of the nurses was at his side and helped him to a chair where he sat dazed for a moment.

Sheppard lay shivering on the table, the convulsions stopped. The doctor and nurses had once again busied themselves around Sheppard's body, wrapping bandages and performing other routine checks. Salen knew that the pilot could be in no better hands on this ship.

The doctor was finishing another scan and Salen could see sweat was beginning to break out all over Sheppard's body, and he moaned, thrashing his head.

"Will he be alright?" Salen asked quietly.

The doctor shook his head. "I think the worst is over but he's still in a very delicate state. I wouldn't recommend we try anything drastic until the medication starts to take effect. The poison on top of the stabbing is going to slow down any progress we could have made immediately. What did you do to him? Those convulsions weren't going to stop until he was dead, but somehow you managed to stop them."

Salen shook his head. "I do not know. I believe the focus that I managed to project to him helped him fight off the poison. I do not know if this is a long term effect."

"Looks like it might be," the doctor said, perusing the scanner. "The poison is in recession. He's probably going to have a rough night ahead of him though. We need to keep a close watch on him."

"I will stay with him tonight," Salen said.

"You're not in very good shape yourself," the doctor replied, shaking his head. "That mind meld looks like it took a lot out of you, Salen."

"I will be fine. I do not require as much sleep as you and the others. Let me stay with him. I will call you if anything changes."

The doctor pursed his lips, thinking. "I'll be in the next room tonight. I won't go to my quarters. I need to get some work done anyway. You can sit with him. Call me the instant anything changes."

"I will."

* * *

><p>On the bridge, Razor watched as the remaining Cardassian vessel fled to the station.<p>

"Sir, shall we pursue?" Flash asked.

Razor shook his head. "Cloak the ship and move us behind Bajor away from _Terok Nor_. Scan the area and keep a constant watch on that station. I need to contact Starfleet."

He swung out of his chair and headed for the captain's office, muttering, "They're not going to be happy about this ..."


	13. Chapter 13

_Author's Note: Some people have expressed confusion in the Star Trek side of things. Again, I will stress that if you read Phoenix-cry's Black Diamond Dogs series this will make more sense! Basically, this is an AU Star Trek story taking place after the most recent Star Trek 2009 film. Vulcan has been destroyed and the Federation is still new enough that the Cardassians and Bajor are not well known. The Black Diamond is a Black Ops vessel that operates undercover for the Federation. I have purposefully left the information about the station vague. More of your questions may be answered as the story goes on, so please be patient! I understand it is hard to explain crossover stories all at once! :-)_

_Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed so far!_

* * *

><p>Jakat and the Founder met First as he hastily exited the ship onto the station.<p>

"Sheppard?" Jakat asked.

First shook his head. "I had been forced to kill him when he refused to tell me more about the Stargate, however he said something before he died I think you may find of interest."

"What did he say?" Jakat demanded.

"One word. 'Atlantis.' Do you know what it is?"

The Founder looked very interested. "I have heard of Atlantis. In very old tales. The fact that this human knows of Atlantis is very interesting indeed. A shame you were forced to kill him."

"A shame indeed," Jakat said. "However, if Starfleet managed to obtain the information from him that we could not, we could find ourselves at a disadvantage. You've done well, First."

First tipped his head in acknowledgment. "Our shields went down and they managed to beam his body back to their ship."

"If that ship has his body we can still track them down," Jakat mused.

"Get your men working on it," the Founder ordered. "I want that Stargate."

* * *

><p>It was not long after the nurses went off duty that Sheppard began to thrash in delirium. Sweat coated his body and he shivered constantly, moaning and murmuring names Salen did not know under his breath. The wound that the knife had caused had been healed quickly by the medical team, but the poison still raged in his system.<p>

Salen stood by the man's side at first, watching him and listening to the names that the Colonel kept repeating. McKay. Elizabeth. Teyla. Ronon. Atlantis.

The city that he saw in Sheppard's mind intrigued him. If this was where the man had come from it was truly an amazing place. Salen knew he had not even scratched the surface of what he had seen of Atlantis. He wondered where it was in the Pegasus Galaxy and if Starfleet would ever extend their exploration that way. If Sheppard truly was from the past, it could be that Atlantis no longer existed, but there was no way to know for sure.

Sheppard thrashed on the biobed, arms flailing, and Salen caught his wrist, trying to keep him from hurting himself. The man's eyes flew open, glassy and unfocused.

"Teyla!" he gasped. "Have to ... have to save her ..."

"She is fine," Salen said, trying to sooth the delirious man. "Go back to sleep."

"No!" Sheppard began to struggle against the Vulcan's grip. "Atlantis ... have to ... have to ..."

With a move that surprised Salen with it's smoothness and speed, Sheppard twisted himself out of the Vulcan's grasp and was on the floor, scrabbling backwards on his hands and knees, eyes searching for something that only he could see. Salen followed him warily, pressing the comlink for the doctor and crouching down to Sheppard's level.

"Colonel Sheppard, you are safe. There is nothing to fear. You are in good hands," he tried to reassure the man.

Sheppard looked towards him, fever glazed eyes not really seeing him. "Atlantis is ... Atlantis is ..."

"Atlantis is fine. You are safe."

"No," Sheppard shook his head violently. "Lies. Just ... just trying to get me to tell ... I won't tell ... won't say anything. You'll have to ... you'll have to kill me. You have to get it out. Get it out ... get it out!"

He laughed, maniacally, scratching at his arm.

Salen heard quick footsteps and suddenly, the doctor was by his side.

"When did he wake?" the doctor asked.

"Just moments ago," Salen answered. "I believe he is delirious. Most of what he is saying does not make sense."

"I'll get a hypospray," the doctor said, turning away.

Sheppard took that moment to tackle Salen, pummeling the Vulcan in the head. Salen was surprised at the speed with which the man could move, but the wiry man's body had been weakened by the poison and Salen was able to easily reverse their positions, pinning the man to the floor.

Sheppard fought, tooth and nail, to get the Vulcan off of him, inhuman snarls erupting from his throat. Salen could sense the sheer panic emanating off of the pilot and tried to again project a sense of calm without mind melding with the man.

The doctor reappeared at Salen's side and pressed the hypospray against Sheppard's neck. The man immediately went limp and Salen scooped him up and settled him gently back on the bed.

"That should keep him out for the rest of the night," the doctor said. He dialed into the scanner and looked it over. "Looks like the poison is working it's way out. The fever should burn it out in the end."

"How long will that take?" Salen asked.

"Could be a few hours, could be the rest of the night. I have a feeling by morning he'll be much better. Still not one hundred percent, but I think it's safe to say he's out of the woods now. We'll let the fever do it's work then work on getting his temperature back down. I'll set the computer to alert me if it gets above 40.5 degrees."

Salen nodded and settled back into the chair at Sheppard's side as the doctor disappeared back into his office.

The computer took that moment to blare out a red alert.

"Razor to Salen. Report to the bridge."

Salen slapped his comlink. "On my way."

* * *

><p>Salen stood next to Razor on the bridge, looking at the approaching Cardassian ships coming around the side of Bajor.<p>

"How did they find us?" Razor asked.

Salen shook his head. "I do not know. What is your plan?"

"I have orders from Starfleet. We're going to destroy the station," Razor replied calmly. "We can't let these guys know that Starfleet was involved. We destroy the station, make it look like it was an accident and move on."

Salen tipped his head. "Logical. As long as the Cardassians have not sent out a plea for help, we should be able to get away with it."

"I've got someone working on jamming their signals for the moment. As long as they can't get past that we should be able to pull it off. The station has limited shielding and no weapons. They're sitting ducks." Razor turned to the screen. "Disengage cloak, shields up! Fire at will."

It was deceptively easy to destroy the Cardassian vessels. As they were unsure of where exactly the Federation vessel was, when the _Black Diamond _uncloaked and immediately started firing, they had no time to arm their own weapons. The ship breezed through the debris of the destroyed vessels, flying straight back to _Terok Nor _at top speed.

"Re-cloak," Razor commanded. "The Cardassians know we're here but the less they see of us the better."

Approaching the space station, the _Black Diamond _locked onto the station's weakest points, disengaged the cloak, and fired. The shields flickered and failed in some areas and one of the docking arms exploded. The rest of the station remained intact.

"Their shields are at nineteen percent and failing," the helmsman reported.

"Target the center rings," Razor ordered.

* * *

><p>Alarms blared as the station went dark. Jakat and First stumbled with the Founder towards the escape shuttles. The station was in chaos.<p>

"Shields failing, shields failing," the computer intoned.

There was no time to think. Jakat sealed the shuttle door as First took the controls. Then their universe exploded around them.

* * *

><p><em>Terok Nor <em>exploded in a blaze of fire. Salen threw his hands up as the flare brightened the ship's screen and burned at his retinas.

Razor whistled. "Wow. That made for some pretty fireworks." He swiveled in his chair, grinning at Salen. "Now ... how about getting Sheppard back home?"


	14. Chapter 14

_Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who is reading and reviewing! More of your questions may be answered as the story goes on! I must admit, it was originally supposed to be about 18,000 words but it has definitely got away from me as I neared the end. I hope you continue to enjoy! Constructive criticism and suggestions are always welcome. :-)_

* * *

><p>Sheppard felt as though he were floating in a dense fog. He walked the halls of Atlantis and saw familiar faces, but no one seemed to take any notice of him. When he reached out to touch someone, he grasped at thin air. His vision was blurry and features were unfocused, no matter how hard he squinted.<p>

Teyla appeared beside him, her touch on his arm feathery.

"John?"

McKay appeared on his other side, stabbing at a computer pad. "Still looking, still looking," he muttered.

Ronon walked in front of him twirling his gun.

Sounds were echoing and unclear. He could hear voices and faint sounds, but seemed to be hearing everything as if he were underwater.

A voice that sounded vaguely familiar started to cut through the fog, saying his name. "Sheppard?"

He tried to swim to the surface, finding it to be as difficult as swimming through mud. Something cool touched the side of his neck and then he was gasping for air, everything pinpointing with absolute focus to noise and bright lights and worried, unfamiliar faces.

Salen was at his side, hand on his shoulder.

"Sheppard, it's alright. You are very sick."

The pilot blinked rapidly, lifting an arm that seemed to weigh a hundred pounds to swipe at his eyes.

"What ... what happened?" His voice sounded rough, as though he had been asleep for a very long time.

"You had been stabbed," Salen replied patiently, as though he had said it to him before.

Sheppard let his hand rest on his chest, feeling smooth skin.

"It was a dream," he whispered.

"It was not, I'm afraid," Salen replied. We beamed you back onboard the _Black Diamond_ just in time. A minute longer and you would have bled out. Whoever stabbed you just missed your heart but you did lose a lot of blood."

Sheppard rubbed his hand on his chest, not believing the Vulcan. "How then ... how is there no ..."

The Vulcan seemed to understand his confusion. "We have very advanced technology. The wound was easy to repair. The poison, however, has yet to work it's way out of your system."

"Poison?"

Salen nodded. "The knife you were stabbed with was poisoned. You have been delirious for much of the time you have been back. You have a very high fever that we are hoping will help rid your body of the poison."

Sheppard lifted his other hand and rubbed at his arm, his eyes flickering as he fought unconsciousness.

"You need to ... you need to scan me."

"Why?"

Sheppard's eyes were closing. "Think they ... think they put ... something in me ..."

At that moment, the alarm blared out a red alert.

* * *

><p>Razor scowled at the viewscreen in front of him.<p>

The remnants of the station floated in black space, but behind it, the wormhole of Bajor had opened, and a small vessel that seemed to have escaped the blast was just swallowed by the mouth of the anomaly.

He turned to the tactical helmsman.

"Cloak?"

"Holding, sir."

"How did we miss that one?"

"I'm sorry sir, I think they managed to escape our detection when the station exploded."

Razor cursed, causing the helmsman to turn bright red.

"What do we know about this wormhole?"

"Sir, it appears to open when a ship approaches. The Cardassian vessel which just entered was traveling at sublight speed. I suggest if we follow that we do the same."

"Send a scout ship. I want to find out where that ship went. I'm not going to risk the _Black Diamond._ We need to cover our tracks."

"Yes sir."

"_Salen to Razor."_

"Yes, Salen."

"_I believe we may have a problem."_

"You're telling me!"

"_I believe that the Cardassians may have implanted a tracking device in Colonel Sheppard."_

"What?"

"_The doctor and I are currently working on a solution. I shall keep you informed."_

"We have a situation, Salen. The sooner you find out, the better! I'm leaving you in command while I'm gone."

"_Yes sir. Where are you going?"_

Razor took a deep breath. "Into the wormhole."

* * *

><p>Flash and Razor took a small shuttle equipped with a cloak, managing to leave the <em>Black Diamond <em>only moments from the time the Cardassian vessel entered the wormhole.

Flash expertly flew the shuttle towards the waiting anomaly, and both men watched pensively as the mouth of the wormhole unfurled before them. With a single glance at his CO, Flash took the shuttle in.

The sight was absolutely amazing. The lights and color plays inside of the wormhole were fascinating to watch and Razor had to physically close his mouth at the sight.

"Are you recording this?" he asked Flash.

"Yes sir."

"Starfleet is going to get a kick out of this." Razor's hands danced across the board in front of him. "Scanning for the Cardassian vessel."

He frowned at his readout and rescanned. "Uh, Flash?"

"Yes sir?"

"Please tell me the computer's wrong about this."

"What is it?"

"I'm reading fifty six vessels within the wormhole, all unknowns except seven of which are Cardassian."

"What?"

"Yeah." Razor cursed. "We are cloaked, right?"

"Yes sir. Cloak is holding. They don't appear to have detected us."

"Scanning," Razor said, his hands flying over the console. "Picking up a transmission."

A hissing sound came through the shuttle's speakers as the transmission was intercepted. _"... vessel ... Founder ..."_

"_Reconfiguring transmission,"_ the shuttle's computer intoned.

"_Terok Nor has been destroyed," _a Cardassian voice continued.

Another voice sounded in reply, low and gravelly. _"And the wormhole device?"_

"_Taken by Starfleet. Requesting immediate pursuit. We have a tracking device aboard one of their vessels."_

"Turn the ship around," Razor ordered. "I've heard enough. We need to stop these guys."

"Yes sir!"


	15. Chapter 15

_Author's Note: Apologies to my readers for taking so long to update in-between chapters! Real life is making things hard, especially being a musician and not being able to catch up on weekends due to concerts! I hope you all understand and hope you enjoy the next chapter and keep reading! Thank you for your patience and for reading and reviewing! :-)_

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><p>Sheppard was sitting up on the bio bed in the infirmary, pale and sweaty. He leaned heavily on the back of the bed board, hands clenched in pain. Salen noted the trembling in his limbs and the tightness around his closed eyes and gauged that this was a man who understood pain and fought it. The doctor was going to have a hard time with him.<p>

Shakily running a hand through his already mussed dark hair, Sheppard took a deep breath, wiping both hands down his face and feeling them come away slick with sweat. He knew he was dehydrated but didn't feel thirsty.

"How are you feeling?" the doctor asked, patiently running a scan.

"Fine."

Salen shook his head. "You are not fine."

Sheppard opened his eyes wearily to look at the Vulcan. "I've been worse."

"You believe you have a tracking device in you. Why have we not detected it?"

"Maybe you haven't been looking," Sheppard replied.

"What makes you think you have a tracking device in you?"

"Only explanation as for why the Cardassians were able to pull me off the ship when there's plenty of other humans to choose from. We have transmitters that we implanted in our arms for back home. If something happened and they needed to find us quickly it helps."

"Got it," the doctor announced. "I found the one your people put in." He pointed to Sheppard's arm then indicated his torso. "The Cardassian tracker is in your abdomen. This will only take a few seconds."

The doctor pulled out a small device. "This might pinch a bit."

Sheppard didn't even flinch as the doctor passed the device over his right side, made a small incision, and pulled out a small round piece of metal. Moving swiftly, the doctor sealed the incision, leaving the skin looking smooth and untouched.

"That's pretty impressive," Sheppard said, looking down at the incision spot. "Wish we had some technology like that at home."

"This is far in your future," Salen reminded him. "Eventually you will have the technology."

"Yeah ..." Sheppard leaned his head back, closing his eyes. "Sorry ... 'm tired ..."

"The fever has exhausted him," the doctor told Salen. "It's still not let up."

"Keep an eye on him, doctor," Salen ordered. "I'm going to the bridge."

* * *

><p>Salen was on the bridge when the wormhole unfurled and the shuttle shot through the opening, heading straight back to the <em>Black Diamond.<em>

"_Razor to Salen."_

"Salen here."

"_Coming in hot. There are fifty six potential hostiles inside the wormhole. Any progress with Sheppard?"_

"Yes Captain, the doctor has managed to find the tracking device and it has been destroyed."

"_Great. We just need to figure out where these guys came from and what to do with them. Docking now. Make sure the cloak holds. Meet you on the bridge in five."_

Salen severed the connection then announced, "Red alert. All hands to battle stations. We'll stay under cloak as long as we can."

At that moment, the wormhole unfurled yet again, and dozens of ships started pouring gracefully out of the anomaly's mouth.

* * *

><p>Sheppard opened his eyes, feeling incredibly hot. His vision was still blurry and his skin felt tight and thin. The doctor was busying himself at his side and Sheppard turned his head towards him, noting a red light flashing around the walls.<p>

"Hey doc ..."

The doctor looked up. "Yes?"

"What's going on, ya know ... with the lights?"

"Red alert. It's our highest alarm system."

"What's going on?"

"Hostile ships approaching, apparently," the doctor replied. "Quite a number of them."

"Oh." Sheppard rolled his head to look at the wall again. "Think I can help."

Sheppard sat up and swung his feet shakily over the side of the bed.

"Hang on now," the doctor said, grabbing his arm in protest. "You're in no shape to be running around right now."

"We might all die if nothing gets done," Sheppard shook his head. "Give me my shirt."

* * *

><p>Jakat and the Founder stood on the bridge of the largest Cardassian vessel, giving out orders to the Jem'Hadar and Cardassian fleet. They had emerged through the wormhole to find empty space and not a sign of the tracking device that they had implanted in Sheppard.<p>

Jakat was fuming in rage.

He had immediately dispatched vessels in all directions searching for warp signatures that would indicate the Starfleet vessel had left. They had returned with nothing. The Cardassian commander concluded that the vessel was hiding somewhere in the Bajoran system. As his engineers searched for a way to expose the vessel, they would wait. The ship would have to leave Bajor eventually, and Jakat was determined to get the Stargate back.

He cast a nervous glance at the Founder standing next to him. She had been staring passively at the screen for several minutes now, patiently listening to his orders.

As he gave out another order to one of the Jem'Hadar scouts, the Founder turned to him.

"You do realize there will be consequences if you fail the Founders," she said, in a deathly quiet voice.

"Yes, Founder."

Jakat swallowed and made himself very busy.


	16. Chapter 16

_Author's Note: Wow, over 100 reviews so far! That's absolutely amazing! Thank you so much to those who continue to read and review. Your kind words are very much appreciated! Now, on to Sheppard's plan!_

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><p>Salen met Sheppard in the docking bay where the Stargate had been stored. The pilot was standing in front of the gate, looking up at the arch above him. He was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and his shirt was plastered to his back. His unruly dark hair seemed even more wild than normal and his eyes were bright with fever.<p>

"You should be in sickbay," Salen said.

"I know." Sheppard didn't turn to look at the Vulcan, but continued staring at the device. "Is Starfleet sending reinforcements?"

"No. No one is supposed to know Starfleet is involved in this operation. We are on our own."

"One ship against fifty six?"

"It appears to be so."

Sheppard looked silently at the Stargate for a long moment, then said, "I have an idea."

"An idea?"

"One that involves the Stargate and huge explosions."

Salen raised an eyebrow.

"The Stargate is made of something called naquadah. It can be a highly explosive element if treated correctly. Weapons are kind of a hobby of mine so I can definitely rig something up. I was talking to the doc earlier and he said that the cave that the Stargate was found in was full of naquadah and some of your team brought a few samples back. It's pretty rare back home."

"And you have a plan for this ... naquadah?"

Sheppard nodded. "I've got a plan A and a plan B. Plan A is we scan for any naquadah on those ships when they come through the wormhole, target the ship and blow it up. If it works right, the explosion will be big enough to take out quite a few ships around it as well. Plan B ... we use our naquadah, plant it around the wormhole and blow it up when they come through."

"The problem with plan B is that the Prime Directive dictates we must make contact with the vessels before opening fire. We must make sure they are indeed hostiles before we do anything ... drastic. The other problem we have is that the ships have already exited the wormhole."

"Oh?" Sheppard crossed his arms. "So why haven't they fired on us yet?"

"They can't find us. The tracking device has been destroyed and we are under cloak at the moment," Salen explained.

"So we could just go away and avoid conflict altogether."

Salen sighed. "If only it were that simple. Starfleet is worried that our presence has been seen too much around Bajor. Whoever these people are that the Cardassians are consorting with are not to be dealt with lightly. If there are more of them on the other side of the wormhole, Bajor itself could be impacted very negatively, as well as the rest of the Alpha Quadrant."

"I see." Sheppard stroked his chin, looking back up at the Stargate. "So these guys need to know we mean business."

Salen hesitated before answering. "I suppose so."

Sheppard grinned. "Are you up for some explosions?"

* * *

><p>Salen moved rapidly with Sheppard, working alongside the engineering and weapons team to use the naquadah samples they had taken from Bajor to create a weapon. Sheppard managed to rig up what he referred to as a 'pipe' bomb, using the heavy element in a casing with explosives that the <em>Black Diamond <em>would then beam into the portion of space that they chose to act as a sort of mine.

Once Sheppard showed the engineers how to create the tiny bomb, they began making the mines in bulk. Salen worried about the human, seeing his flushed and sweaty skin as signs that the fever had not abated. The man worked doggedly, however, single-minded in his task.

The engineers had marveled at how heavy the naquadah element was. It required two men to carry a small mine the size of a human hand. Sheppard explained that there were liquid forms of the element as well, but the vast uses for the element were what had helped his universe to develop weapons and technology. The Stargate could not have been made from any other element as it needed something strong enough to support a stable wormhole opening. Apparently, the element was rare in Sheppard's time and was not found anywhere on Earth. He had marveled at the fact that Bajor seemed to have such a vast quantity of naquadah.

Salen had filed the information away for future use, hoping that they could send future expeditions back to Bajor to see if there was anything else of use on the planet.

Razor contacted them intermittently, keeping them up to date on the movements of the Cardassians and Jem'Hadar. Several scout ships had been patrolling the sector and the _Black Diamond _crew was working hard to keep her concealed long enough for Sheppard to finish his work with the engineering and weapons crew on the naquadah devices.

Salen watched in concern as Sheppard again wiped an arm across a forehead slick with sweat as he bent over the second device that he had managed to put together.

"I wish McKay was here," Sheppard muttered.

"Who is McKay?"

"Brilliant scientist, genius guy. He does all this work. I do all the action stuff and shoot guns. I never have to do this." He waved absentmindedly at the device. "He'd probably have had all this finished ages ago."

"Your engineering skills are impressive despite the labor you claim it takes to create the bombs," Salen replied.

"Thanks ..." Sheppard gave the device an experimental whack with the tool he was holding. "I was always good at math and remembering things. My dad wanted me to be a lawyer or engineer. Someone who used their brains and was important to society. I was too much of a rebel. Joined the military and that was that. He and I didn't really get along."

"A difficult situation," Salen commented, remembering his own, difficult childhood. "My father adopted me when I was much older. My parents were both killed when I was very young and I was kept as a prisoner for much of my childhood before my father rescued me. It has been ... difficult sometimes, to introduce a human as my father, but I do not regret my past. I am happy that he is my father, but I wonder what my life would have been like if I had my Vulcan parents to bring me up."

"Must be weird," Sheppard stuck his tongue out in concentration as he turned the tool inside the bomb. "Razor said you Vulcans are supposed to have no emotions. You act pretty human if that's the case."

"Yes, I do experience emotions," Salen shrugged. "My Vulcan counterparts look down on me for not controlling them, but I have been raised by humans most of my life so I see no need to conform to a life that I never knew."

"Makes sense." Sheppard gave the tool a twirl then leaned back. "Done. We've got twelve of them now. I think that should be enough."

"Are you certain?"

Sheppard raised an eyebrow. "Just one of these babies is going to knock out a whole bunch of ships. In fact, when we beam it out, we're going to need to get as far away from there as possible. I don't know what the shockwave might do to the ship."

Salen quirked an eyebrow at the pilot. "I shall inform Razor."

* * *

><p>Nearly six hours had passed since they exited the wormhole near Bajor and began their search for the invisible Starfleet vessel. Jakat was irritated that although he suspected Starfleet was involved in Sheppard's rescue, they had yet to confirm their involvement. Being a man of honor, he knew that he could not launch any formal accusations at Starfleet unless he was certain, and of course, the Founders would have to agree to any plan of action as well.<p>

Jakat was interrupted from his thoughts when his second in command placed a hand on the headset he was operating on, surprise on his features as he beckoned to his commander.

"Sir, we're receiving a transmission."

"Open a channel," Jakat ordered, feeling the relentless gaze of the Founder on the back of his head.

"They are transmitting audio only," the man replied. "I'll see if I can locate them."

Jakat nodded.

"_Calling all Cardassian and unknown vessels in the Bajoran sector. We are requesting that you return to where you came from, back through the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant."_

"Who is this?" Jakat demanded.

"_Who we are is none of your concern. We have been sent to protect this sector."_

"You have something that belongs to us," Jakat hissed. "The Stargate. Return it to us and we will go on our way."

"_I'm afraid that is not possible."_

Jakat's second in command touched his earpiece, mouthing "I've got them."

"You will have to make it possible," Jakat snarled. "You are vastly outnumbered."

"_Actually, we've got a little something up our sleeve that might make you change your mind."_

The viewscreen suddenly flared as an explosion suddenly blossomed at the edge of the fleet, wiping out vessel after vessel and eating its way towards Jakat's ship before dying down. The ship rocked with the shockwave and the alarms blared as the lights flickered in the aftermath.

"Report!" he ordered.

The communications officer spoke into his comm, listening to the frantic communications coming through.

"Sir! Twenty three ships lost, nine damaged!"

"Did you get a trace on their signal?"

"Affirmative, sir."

"Open fire!"


	17. Chapter 17

_Author's Note: Thank you so much to those who keep reading and reviewing. I love reading every review and hearing your thoughts on what is going on! Hope you continue to enjoy the story!_

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><p>Salen, Razor and Sheppard stood on the bridge of the <em>Black Diamond<em>, watching as their improvised naquadah bomb effectively wiped out half of the Jem'Hadar and Cardassian fleet.

Sheppard pumped a fist in the air, whispering, "Yes!"

Razor grinned. "Looks like it worked."

"McKay is never going to believe this," Sheppard responded.

The communications helmsman suddenly swung around in his chair, "Sir, they are opening fire!"

"Shields up!" Razor ordered.

The command didn't come soon enough. Energy bolts ripped through the vessel's cloak, rocking the ship and causing alarms to blare on every console.

"Shields have failed!"

"Turn her around! Full retreat!" Razor bellowed. "I'm not letting these Cardassians get ahold of this ship!"

Sheppard grabbed onto the edge of the nearest console as the ship rocked again. The lights around the bridge flickered and died before being replaced by the emergency lighting. One of the men working at a console across the room yelped as the board blew, sparks erupting from the wall.

"Flash!" Razor roared.

"Retreating, sir!"

The _Black Diamond _swung around in a wide arc as the Cardassian and Jem'Hadar vessels powered up, launching after their prey.

"Get her behind the moon," Razor ordered. "Until engineering has the shields working we need something between them and us."

"They won't destroy the ship," Sheppard said. "They need the Stargate."

"Engineering," Razor slapped his com, "Status report."

"_Sir, shields are totally down. Cloak is down. Impulse still available, all weapons still available."_

"How soon until everything is up and running?"

"_A good hour, sir."_

"We'll all be dead in an hour!" Razor retorted sharply. "Make it five minutes!"

"_Yes sir."_

Several bolts of energy erupted from the lead Cardassian vessel, the first missing the _Black Diamond_, the second scraping it's hull, and the third hitting the ship with enough force to knock anyone standing on the bridge to their feet.

"Flash!" Razor growled. "What did they teach you in flying school?"

"Sorry, sir!" the pilot answered.

"I think it's time we launched another naquadah bomb," Salen said.

"Damn right," Razor replied. "Tactics?"

"Launching, sir."

"Make sure you beam it right in the middle of them. Open a channel to the lead ship. Audio only."

"Channel open, sir."

Razor straightened his uniform, standing from his chair. "Cardassian fleet, I am ordering you to stand down. Now."

"_You are in no shape to be ordering us to stand down," _came the gravely reply.

Razor cocked an eyebrow in a very Vulcan-like manner. "You know that bomb that wiped out half your fleet? We've got plenty more. Stand down or we will launch a second bomb. I don't think the rest of you are going to be so lucky this time."

Flash turned from his console. "Sir, they are slowing down."

Razor nodded. "Terms and conditions, Cardassian. I hope you're listening carefully. Leave and go back to where you came from. Further pursuit will result in the destruction of the rest of your fleet. We are placing a minefield around the mouth of the Bajoran wormhole. If you attempt to come back to the Alpha Quadrant or call for reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant, this minefield will go off when the ships exit the wormhole."

"_All we want is the Stargate. Give us the device and we will leave peaceably."_

"It was never yours to begin with," Razor shook his head. "The Stargate belongs to the Bajorans. Don't think you'll find it if you try to come back, though. It will be well hidden."

There was a moment's pause, then on the viewscreen, they saw the Cardassian and Jem'Hadar ships powering up and heading at top speed towards the _Black Diamond_.

"Sir, the lead vessel is on a direct course for the _Black Diamond_!" the tactical helmsman shouted.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Razor ordered. "He's trying to ram us!"

Sheppard clung to the railing, shaking his head. "He'd rather no one has the Stargate."

"Activate the bomb," Razor nodded to Salen.

The Vulcan moved swiftly, his fingers dancing over the console in front of him. "Bomb activated. Triggering explosives."

"Keep her moving, Flash," Razor ordered.

A bright flare of light expanded in the middle of the Cardassian and Jem'Hadar fleet, and the bridge crew watched the viewscreen as vessel after vessel was torn to pieces by the naquadah bomb. In the aftermath, only small fragments of the ships were left, floating in the blackness of space.

Razor whistled. "Two of those in one day. We've got to add those to our weapons roster!"

Salen glanced over at Sheppard, who was visibly clinging to the railing of the bridge with all the strength he had left in him. The man's skin was flushed and he was shivering uncontrollably. Salen moved over to him, slapping his com.

"Salen to the doctor."

"_Here."_

"Please prepare sickbay. I am bringing Sheppard back."

The pilot shook his head, murmuring, "I'm fine, Salen."

"You are _not _fine," Salen insisted.

At that moment, Sheppard's legs gave way, and he crumpled to the floor, one hand still clutching the railing. He leaned his forehead against the cool metal banister, feeling suddenly very drained and exhausted. He could hear Salen saying his name and felt the Vulcan's presence next to him but didn't have the energy to respond. He felt hands on him, pulling his hand from the banister. He felt the Vulcan lifting him and the ceiling spun dizzyingly into blackness.

* * *

><p>Salen couldn't hide the concern he felt when Sheppard slowly collapsed to the floor. The man seemed utterly unaware of the Vulcan when he knelt by his side, gently disengaging the pilot's hand from the railing. His eyes were glassy and unfocused and his skin was hot and flushed. When Salen scooped him up into his arms and started heading towards the turbolift, he was astonished at the heat radiating from the man's body. The movement seemed to be too much for Sheppard, and his eyes rolled back in his head, his body utterly limp in Salen's arms. The Vulcan could feel tremors running through his body, even in unconsciousness.<p>

"Razor, I'm taking him to sickbay," Salen called over his shoulder.

It was when Salen gently laid Sheppard onto a biobed in sickbay and he still remained unresponsive, that he began to feel more concerned about the human's state.

"What happened?" the doctor demanded, peeling back Sheppard's eyes to reveal the whites.

"He collapsed on the bridge," Salen responded. "I believe his temperature is too high."

"You've got that right," the doctor muttered, passing his hands along Sheppard's body and pulling back his shirt. After finishing a quick visual exam, the doctor patted Sheppard's face.

"Come on, Sheppard," he said. "Wake up son."

Sheppard started to respond, turning his head and weakly opening his eyes. He didn't look at the doctor or at Salen, appearing to see something that wasn't there.

"Beckett?" he croaked.

Salen moved closer. "Sheppard, it's me, Salen. Do you know where you are?"

Sheppard looked confused, eyes darting back and forth as he became more and more agitated. He tried to sit up and struggled against the doctor when he easily held him down.

"Lay down, son," the doctor said. "It's okay. You're in good hands."

"Got to ... got to find Teyla ..." Sheppard muttered. "She ... she didn't come in this ... this morning."

"Teyla is fine," the doctor soothed. He looked at Salen. "His fever is dangerously high. I think all the excitement was too much for him."

"And the poison?" Salen asked.

The doctor pulled out a scanner, passing it along Sheppard's body. "Gone. His body's confused. It burned out the poison but we need to get him cooled down now. Keep an eye on him while I go get the coolant items."

Sheppard tried sitting up again, his eyes looking panicked when Salen pushed him back down.

"Let me go," he said.

"I cannot do that," Salen replied. "Stay still. You are safe here."

"Teyla ... McKay's in trouble."

"They are fine."

"No, no, no!" Sheppard was starting to thrash on the bed, and Salen became concerned when he noted telltale tremors running through Sheppard's body.

"Doctor!" he called out.

The tremors started to turn into violent shivering, and the doctor arrived in time to press a hypospray against the pilot's neck. A few seconds later, Sheppard went limp, his eyes rolling back in his head.

"What does that mean?" Salen asked.

The doctor shook his head, answering grimly, "This doesn't look good. We need to get his temperature down."

Salen watched as the doctor and nurses stripped Sheppard's clothing away, placing chilled packs around his body and then covering him with a cooling blanket. Despite the sedative he was given, Sheppard continue to move restlessly, his lips moving in wordless protest as the nurses and doctor arranged the cold packs around his body.

"You don't need to stay, Salen," the doctor said at last. After two hours of monitoring and readjusting the cold packs when Sheppard would thrash around on the bed, the Vulcan had not moved from where he had stood. Sheppard had finally settled down into an agitated slumber, kept unconscious by the drugs that the doctor had fed into his system.

Salen did not feel fatigue as quickly as the humans did, and replied, "I will stay, doctor. If he wakes, it is best that someone he knows is nearby."

"I'll be around," the doctor said. "I need to take care of some injuries the crew sustained from the Cardassian attack."

Salen nodded and pulled up a chair to sit at Sheppard's bedside, noting ironically that it was the second time in 24 hours that he was doing so. He steepled his fingers and settled down to wait.


	18. Chapter 18

_Author's Note: If this chapter makes you more curious about Salen and Razor's past, please do read Phoenix-cry's "Black Diamond Dogs" series. I'm so glad most of you are enjoying the story so far. Please do keep reading and reviewing! We are reaching the end!_

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><p>Sheppard's dreams were full of Atlantis. They were jumbled images, fuzzy and unclear in his mind. He realized at one point in a hazy state between awake and asleep that he was starting to forget faces. Teyla and McKay's faces swam into focus only after he concentrated. Elizabeth refused to turn around when he saw her and called out to her. Beckett did the same. He angrily charged after the Scot and grabbed his shoulder, trying to turn the man around to face him and woke up with a start, gasping for breath, shivering violently and feeling very cold.<p>

It took a few disorientated moments to remember where he was: the _USS Black Diamond._ Familiar smells and sounds told him he was in sickbay. It was dark in the room he was lying in so he guessed it was probably nighttime onboard the ship. Salen sat in a chair by his side, his scarred face propped up on one hand with his eyes closed in sleep.

Sheppard looked at the Vulcan for a few moments, remembering when he had asked Razor about how Salen had accumulated all of his scars. Razor had told him a disturbing story about how Salen had been kept prisoner on Earth as a young boy, locked in a room for years after the death of his parents. His captors had sold his blood and many times had beaten him or allowed buyers to cut him in order to obtain his blood. How Salen had managed to push his past behind him and live life normally, Sheppard didn't quite understand.

Razor explained that Vulcans prided themselves on control over their emotions, and Salen had spent most of his life among humans and thus did not have the same control that other Vulcans had, nor did he seem to desire this control. In fact, Razor also confided to Sheppard that Salen had a human wife and loved her very much. Most Vulcans would feel a bond of loyalty to their mate, but Salen's love for his wife was quite obvious to his crew and he was not afraid to hide it.

Apparently it was not uncommon for Vulcans and humans to marry as Razor spoke of another Vulcan named Spock with apparent awe. His mother was human and his father Vulcan, but Spock had been raised more as a Vulcan than as a human and thus had much stronger Vulcan tendencies. Salen, while a full-blooded Vulcan, took on the human traits of his adopted father, Christopher Pike, quite easily.

Razor had avoided the question when Sheppard asked him about his past, and Salen was the one who told him later that Razor's past was just as dark as his own. He did not say much else, however, he added that he wanted his past to be wiped clean when he joined the _Black Diamond _crew. Most of the crew currently led such a secretive life that their past had to be cleared and they became new people, which was why Sheppard thought that many of them took on nicknames, rather than using their own name.

Sheppard drifted for several minutes. He blinked sleepily and saw the walls of Atlantis around him once again. McKay was standing at a console in the gate room, chattering away to Ronon and Teyla who stood by his side as he worked.

"My hypothesis is that something on M4X-399 triggered the gate to throw the Colonel into another wormhole, thus creating another dimension. He could have ended up on the same planet in the future or the past, or he could have ended up on another planet altogether. If he's in our time, we can find him. If he isn't in our time ... I really have no idea what to do. We can try to recreate the scenario on our end, but it wouldn't work because he would have to know when to enter the gate. Obviously, we can't communicate with him so the odds are looking pretty slim that we can do anything on our end."

McKay stopped rambling to look at Teyla and Ronon, his voice suddenly growing serious. "So basically ... we can't get him back."

Sheppard wanted to wave his arms and tell them that he was right there, but he felt sluggish, like he was trying to walk through heavy mud. Talking was next to impossible, and he felt so cold.

Ronon looked angry. "So we can't do anything?"

McKay shook his head firmly. "Nothing."

"We shall keep vigil nevertheless," Teyla said firmly. "I, for one, will continue to wait."

Sheppard shivered again and sickbay solidified around him as he blinked rapidly, trying to clear the sleep from his eyes. He saw Salen still in the same position next to his bed, his head propped on his hand while he slept.

Suddenly remembering why he had awoken in the first place, Sheppard felt a violent shiver wracking his body. He was lying under a metallic blanket and could feel cold compresses at several points of his body under the blanket. Apparently the fever had raged high enough to call for drastic measures, but now Sheppard was _cold_. He shivered again, his teeth rattling, and Salen stirred in the chair, opening his eyes and looking at the pilot.

"You are awake."

"Y-y-y-yeah."

Salen stood, a frown creasing his features as he moved the cold compress aside which had been lying on Sheppard's forehead. He lay a warm hand against the human's head, mimicking the gesture he had seen the doctor use without equipment.

"I will call the doctor. I think your fever has broken."

"C-c-c-cold."

Salen nodded. "I will return shortly."

Seconds later, the doctor was with Salen at Sheppard's side, rubbing a hand over bleary eyes. The man looked like he probably had slept in sickbay for the past three days. He checked the scans at Sheppard's bedside, giving both Sheppard and Salen a weary smile.

"Looks like the fever's going down," he grinned. "About time. You had us worried there."

He pulled the cold compresses out from under the blanket and flipped the blanket over, which immediately started giving off warmth.

"T-t-thanks, doc. W-w-was starting to t-t-turn into an icicle."

The doctor patted his shoulder in a gesture that made Sheppard achingly miss the Scottish doctor of Atlantis.

"Get your rest, Colonel. That was a lot of excitement for you. Too much for all of us, really. You need your strength up so we can get you back home."

_Home._

Sheppard felt the ache more sharply at the mention.

_Atlantis._

Who would have ever believed that he would call an alien city his home? Of course, it wasn't just the city. The people he had come to know over the years in the Pegasus Galaxy made it home. He missed his friends and colleagues. He missed exploring new planets. He missed flying. He missed what passed for the _normality_ of Atlantis.

Sighing deeply, Sheppard settled under the blanket, feeling the exhaustion overtaking his thoughts. He closed his eyes and slept.


	19. Chapter 19

_Author's Note: Big thanks to Nedy Rahn for the photon torpedo suggestion. I've snuck it into this chapter ... Hope you enjoy!_

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><p>Even with the <em>Black Diamond's <em>advanced medical technology, it still took Sheppard a few days to fully recover from the effects of the poison. The longest lasting effect was total exhaustion. He slept 36 hours straight and woke up feeling as though he could have slept 36 more hours easily.

Salen, Razor and the _Black Diamond _crew had been hard at work trying to figure out how to get him home while he slept, and he was surprised to find the substantial progress they had made when he was finally up on his feet and was able to talk to Razor and Salen and find out what they had been up to.

After being released from sickbay, Sheppard was given guest quarters while they worked on final plans for figuring out the safest way for him to get back to his timeline. As his clothes had been fairly tattered after his time with the Cardassians, the Dogs had given him their black uniform. Sheppard wished they had uniforms like it for Atlantis. The fabric was comfortable and allowed him to move freely. He did not wear their insignia but enjoyed the comfortable clothing, realizing that it was made out of a special material that kept his body at just the right temperature. He never felt too cold or too hot, and the cloth wicked away any sweat his body might have produced while working in engineering.

Salen gave him access to the ship's computer, but Sheppard avoided looking up any information that was unnecessary to finding a way back to Atlantis. Despite knowing that this timeline was in the future and was not his own, he still couldn't help but feel it might be cheating to know how things turned out back on Earth and how technology developed - even if this alternate universe didn't seem to have the influence of the Stargate to help develop their current technology.

It took another two weeks of calculations and running experiments through the computer before they thought they had it right. They had returned the Stargate to the cave on Bajor in order for everything to work correctly. Sheppard oversaw the calculations and simulations onboard the _Black Diamond _and when he thought they had it right, took a deep breath and decided it was time.

Sheppard knew that he would be returning to the planet with the black monsters and wished he still had his 9mm and P-90 ... just in case. According to their calculations, he could end up a few minutes in either direction around when he left the planet the first time, and he wanted to take no risks if those creatures were still around.

After beaming down to Bajor and setting up the Stargate, Salen handed him a heavy gun.

"For the monsters you were talking about," he explained.

Sheppard grinned, wondering if the Vulcan had read his mind earlier. "You know you can't really get this back, right?"

Salen shrugged. "We have plenty."

"Thanks." Sheppard tried to refrain from fondling the weapon. Ronon was going to love it and he was going to make sure McKay didn't have a chance to take it apart.

"What are you going to do if those Cardassians show up again?" he asked Salen while they busied themselves in prepping the gate.

"You humans have a saying," Salen responded, "'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.' In the meantime, I believe the naquadah bombs have sent a strong enough message to anyone in the Gamma Quadrant. Starfleet was impressed with the quality of the naquadah and are thinking about incorporating it into our photon torpedoes. We've also been monitoring the Bajoran wormhole and have seen no signs of activity. We'll leave a scout on Bajor just to make sure, but it's really up to Starfleet if they want to pursue anything."

"All systems go," Razor declared from across the room.

The small group of men who had accompanied them to the surface stood back as Sheppard had directed them, watching in wonder as he entered the sequence and the Stargate activated. The watery surface beckoned, and Sheppard checked his watch.

Two minutes.

Salen was doing some rapid calculations on the computer console they had hooked up to the Stargate, and Sheppard leaned towards Razor as the man approached the console.

"So ... what are you guys going to do with it when I'm gone?"

Razor shrugged. "We'll have to hand it over to Starfleet. Now that they know there might be more of them out there, our mission might change. I'm sure they'll spend some time studying it, figuring out how it works. Who knows, maybe we'll see you again someday."

"Well, I hope not." Sheppard grinned. "I've had enough of time traveling."

"It's time." Salen looked up, motioning towards the Stargate.

"Thanks for your help, guys," Sheppard said. "Wish there was something more I could do for you."

"You've done plenty." Razor grinned.

Sheppard tipped the Dogs a salute and stepped forward, gripping the gun firmly. He took a deep breath, crossed his fingers, and stepped into the wormhole.

Salen and Razor watched him go, the shimmering surface of the Stargate glimmering in the darkness of the cave before deactivating, seconds after the Colonel disappeared.

"I like him," Razor said. "I think he would have made a good addition to the Dogs if he would have stayed around."

Salen nodded. "Indeed."

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><p>Sheppard emerged onto the barren landscape of the volcanic planet and noted that he was definitely alone. A black speck in the distance told him that the shaggy beasts were nearby but not close enough for him to panic. As the Stargate deactivated, he dialed to the Alpha site, hefting his new gun and hoping that this time, he would end up in the right place ... and time.<p> 


	20. Chapter 20

Ronon backed through the gate, gun raised at its surface, expecting to see Sheppard racing through behind him.

The gate shut down with no sign of Sheppard. Ronon whirled, looking at the gate technician as McKay yelled, "Redial the gate!"

Carter was standing on the top balcony, confusion in her voice. "McKay? Where's Colonel Sheppard?"

"We do not know," Teyla replied breathlessly.

"He was right behind us," Ronon added, feeling frustration starting to kick in as he realized everyone else was as confused as he was.

Suddenly, the gate began dialing.

McKay whirled towards the gate technician. "Who's dialing?"

The man held up his hands, shaking his head. "It's not us, sir."

Ronon was forced to step back as the wormhole opened, throwing a hand out to push McKay back as well, who had started to sputter in surprise at the wormhole's activation.

"It's the Alpha site, Colonel," the gate technician informed Carter.

After a slight hesitation, Carter nodded and the shield dropped.

A lone figure stepped through, dressed in black and carrying what appeared to be a strange weapon. Ronon raised his gun and trained it on the man whose features could not be seen through the bright light shining through the wormhole.

"Who the hell is that?" McKay squeaked.

The wormhole deactivated and the man cracked a grin, swiping a hand through mussed dark hair.

"Did ya miss me?" Sheppard drawled.

"Where have you been? And what are you wearing? And what is _that_?" McKay sputtered, pointing at Sheppard's weapon.

Sheppard sighed. "It's a long story. How long have I been gone?"

Teyla shook her head. "Only minutes. You did not follow us through the Stargate and we feared the worst. Then the Alpha site dialed and now you are here."

Carter strode forward. "Colonel, how did you end up at the Alpha site?"

"Um, I need to sit down," Sheppard said, pressing the fingers of his free hand to his temple. "Feeling a bit dizzy."

Without further ado, he sat down heavily on the steps, setting the gun down beside him. His team crowded around him as Carter pressed her earpiece. "Gateroom to the infirmary. Can you send a team please?"

Sheppard waved his hand. "I'll be okay, just some side effects from the poison."

"Poison?" McKay said in disbelief.

Sheppard rolled his eyes. "Like I said. It's a long story."

"Perhaps you'd care to enlighten us while we wait for the doc to get here," Carter said, folding her arms.

"Okay." Sheppard sighed, thinking for a moment as he considered how to begin.

"I've been gone longer than you think. Something happened to the Stargate between when you all entered it and when I went through. I didn't end up back at Atlantis. I ended up somewhere else and some_time_ else. I think altogether I've been gone several weeks."

"That long?" Teyla breathed.

"Yeah. I was captured by these guys called the Cardassians. They wanted to know how the Stargate worked and where it went to. They wanted to know about Earth. I ended up getting rescued by these guys who work for something called the Federation. They helped me out and in the end, I made it back here. It looks like I was only gone minutes, but trust me, it's been a tough few weeks."

"But ... but what about the poison?" McKay asked.

"I got stabbed by a Jem'Hadar. He was pretty angry with me. Salen told me I nearly died because there was poison on the blade. It's been taking a long time getting out of my system but they told me I'd be one hundred percent after a few weeks."

"Who's Salen?" Ronon asked.

"He was one of the guys that rescued me and worked with the Federation. A good guy." Sheppard looked off into the distance. "I think I'll miss him."

"You established bonds with these people," Teyla observed.

"Yeah. I guess I did. They rescued me from some pretty nasty guys. The Cardassians probably would have killed me in the end. Salen came and helped me out. We got the Stargate working and ended up blowing up some of the bad guys, too."

"Do you know if you were in the Pegasus Galaxy?" McKay asked suddenly.

"No. I wasn't. I'm pretty sure I was in the Milky Way. The Stargate there looked like the one on Earth. I'm also pretty sure I didn't just end up in the wrong place. It must have been time travel. Salen thinks I also landed in an alternate universe. According to their records, I was several hundred years in the future, andin their universe, the Stargate project didn't seem to take off. Nobody knew what the Stargate was. There was quite a lot of hulabaloo when I came through it as the Cardassians didn't even know that it was a wormhole device when they found it."

"That's fascinating," McKay said excitedly.

"I had a feeling you'd geek out about it," Sheppard whacked McKay playfully on the arm.

"Hey!" the scientist protested, rubbing his arm.

"It's good to be home, guys," Sheppard said seriously. "I wasn't sure if I was going to make it there for a while."

"We are glad to have you back," Teyla smiled. "Even if to us you were only gone for a few moments."

"Thanks, Teyla."

"I'll expect to hear all the details about this little trip you took in the briefing once you've been cleared for duty, Colonel," Carter said. "Sounds like one hell of a story."

Sheppard grinned and looked over his shoulder at the silent Stargate.

"Yes ma'am. It certainly is."

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><p><em>Author's Note: My deepest apologies to those who have been patient enough to read this last chapter. I have been in Japan the past few weeks and haven't had access to the internet ... hence the final chapter has taken far too long to be uploaded. I hope you forgive me and hope you do enjoy this final wrap up. I was tempted to leave the story at the end of the last chapter but felt a more final ending was needed. Please do leave comments andor suggestions on how you think the story was overall so that I can work to further improve my writing and bring you more stories. Thank you so much to those who have read and reviewed from start to finish. It means a lot to read your words of encouragement, general comments and suggestions! Also, many, many, many thanks to Phoenix-Cry for allowing me to borrow the Black Diamond crew and Salen Pike. :-)  
><em>


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